Statins decrease the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Recommended Citation
Tarar ZI, Farooq U, Inayat F, Basida SD, Ibrahim F, Gandhi M, Nawaz G, Afzal A, Chaudhary AJ, Kamal F, Ali AH, and Ghouri YA. Statins decrease the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis. World J Exp Med 2024; 14(4):98543.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-20-2024
Publication Title
World J Exp Med
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is a leading cause of chronic liver disease with a significant risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Recent clinical evidence indicates the potential benefits of statins in cancer chemoprevention and therapeutics. However, it is still unclear if these drugs can lower the specific risk of HCC among patients with MASLD.
AIM: To investigate the impact of statin use on the risk of HCC development in patients with MASLD.
METHODS: A systematic review and meta-analysis of all the studies was performed that measured the effect of statin use on HCC occurrence in patients with MASLD. The difference in HCC risk between statin users and non-users was calculated among MASLD patients. We also evaluated the risk difference between lipophilic versus hydrophilic statins and the effect of cumulative dose on HCC risk reduction.
RESULTS: A total of four studies consisting of 291684 patients were included. MASLD patients on statin therapy had a 60% lower pooled risk of developing HCC compared to the non-statin group [relative risk (RR) = 0.40, 95%CI: 0.31-0.53, I (2) = 16.5%]. Patients taking lipophilic statins had a reduced risk of HCC (RR = 0.42, 95%CI: 0.28-0.64), whereas those on hydrophilic statins had not shown the risk reduction (RR = 0.57, 95%CI: 0.27-1.20). The higher (> 600) cumulative defined daily doses (cDDD) had a 70% reduced risk of HCC (RR = 0.30, 95%CI: 0.21-0.43). There was a 29% (RR = 0.71, 95%CI: 0.55-0.91) and 43% (RR = 0.57, 95%CI: 0.40-0.82) decreased risk in patients receiving 300-599 cDDD and 30-299 cDDD, respectively.
CONCLUSION: Statin use lowers the risk of HCC in patients with MASLD. The higher cDDD and lipophilicity of statins correlate with the HCC risk reduction.
PubMed ID
39713070
Volume
14
Issue
4
First Page
98543
Last Page
98543
