Association of statin use and oncological outcomes after neoadjuvant radiotherapy in patients with rectal cancer

Abstract

Aim: The aim of the study was to examine if statin exposure during neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy improves oncological outcomes in patients with rectal cancer. Patients and Methods: The study cohort consisted of patients who were undergoing neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and resection for rectal cancer. The statin users were matched 1:1 with non-users using propensity score-based matching. The primary outcome of the study was disease-free survival; secondary outcomes were recurrence-free survival and all-cause mortality. Results: A total of 704 patients were included in the study. Disease-free survival was not different between the two groups [hazard ratio (HR)=0.98, 95% confidence intervaI (CI)=0.77-1.25, p=0.88]. Both recurrence-free survival (HR=1.02, 95% CI=0.74-1.39, p=0.92) and all-cause mortality (HR=0.92, 95% CI=0.68-1.23, p=0.56) were similar for the two groups. Conclusion: The study does not support that statin use is associated with response to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy in terms of disease-free survival, recurrence-free survival or all-cause mortality.