BEIJING, Jan 4 (Xinhuanet) -- Earlier studies have suggested that statin drugs may help lower rates of breast, prostate and colon cancers, but researchers said on Tuesday the best-selling medications work no wonder in warding off cancer.

    This conclusion is drawn from an analysis of 26 studies involving 87,000 patients and was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

    "When we put all the trials together we were hopeful of validating a cancer-protective effect, but we ended up not finding any," study author Michael White of the University of Connecticut and Hartford Hospital said.

    White said studies that found a link between statin use and protection against cancer checked databases of patients with or without cancer, then looked backward for statin use.

    These so-called case-controlled studies do not prove anything, he said.

    In contrast, his team dug into data from randomized studies where patients were recruited and divided into groups to be given statins or a placebo to measure effectiveness against heart disease. The studies also tracked cancer cases because of early concerns that statins might cause or promote cancer.

    "It's come full circle -- first they thought it was a great drug for heart disease that might cause cancer, then they thought it might prevent cancer. But we now know they can take the drug safely without risk of cancer," White said.

    The analysis also looked at particular statin drugs and different kinds of cancers to see if there were any relationships. It found none.

    "We don't want to dilute the positives from statins ... but if you don't have heart disease and take them to prevent cancer, that's not a good reason," White said. Enditem

(Agencies)