Screening for prostate cancer among statin users

Researchers investigated whether statin use was associated with the outcomes of a randomized PSA-

based prostate cancer screening trial.

Data was used from a Finnish population-based study of prostate cancer screening that randomized men to PSA screening or routine care. All men aged 55-67 years at baseline and residing in the Tampere or Helsinki districts of Finland were included. Information on statin purchases was obtained from a national prescription registry. Eligible men from the population registry of Finland were identified and men already diagnosed with prostate cancer were excluded.

The men were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 groups: the first group received 3 invitations for PSA screening at 4-year intervals.  The second group received “routine care,” some of which also may have elected to undergo PSA screening.  The study population included 78,606 men with a median age of 59 years with statin-purchase data available.  The statin users had a lower incidence of low-risk (Gleason score 6, grade group 1 and clinically localized tumors); where, the rates of high-grade tumors (Gleason score of 8 to 10, grade group 4 or 5) were similar in the two groups.  PSA screening was associated with a lower incidence of metastatic tumors regardless of statin use.  These results suggest that statin use does not compromise the benefits of PSA screening.

JAMA Oncol. 2021, Nov 24. EPub Ahead of Print.