Association between statin use and the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma after resection: a nationwide cohort study

• Published in: EClinicalMedicine 2023-11, Vol.65, p.102300-102300, Article 102300
• Main Authors: Jeon, Dongsub, Cha, Hye Ryeong, Chung, Sung Won, Choi, Jonggi, Lee, Danbi, Shim, Ju Hyun, Kim, Kang Mo, Lim, Young-Suk, Lee, Han Chu, Lee, Seung Won, Choi, Won-Mook
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Lipid-lowering agent; Liver cancer; Overall survival; Recurrence-free survival; Tertiary prevention
• ISSN: 2589-5370; 2589-5370
• DOI: 10.1016/j.eclinm.2023.102300

The majority of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) following hepatic resection experience tumor recurrence. Statin use is associated with a reduced risk of HCC development; however, the association between statin use and the prognosis of HCC after resection remains unclear. We aimed to investigate the effect of statin use on the prognosis after hepatic resection among patients with HCC. A nationwide cohort study was performed with data from the National Health Insurance Service Database in Korea. Among 65,101 HCC patients who underwent hepatic resection between January 2002 and December 2017, we included 21,470 patients. For validation, a hospital-based cohort of 3366 patients with very early or early-stage HCC who received curative-intent hepatic resection between January 2010 and December 2018 was analyzed. Recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) was compared between statin users and non-users. Among the nationwide cohort of 21,470 patients, 2399 (11.2%) used statins and 19,071 (88.8%) did not. Among the hospital cohort of 3366 patients, 363 (10.8%) used statins and 3003 (89.2%) did not. In the propensity score-matched nationwide cohort, statin users had better RFS (hazard ratio [HR], 0.60; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.56–0.64; P