Statin use and risk of renal cell carcinoma in three prospective cohort studies.

Abstract

679 Background: Evidence on statin use and incidence of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is mixed. Previous results from the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS) and Health Professionals Follow-up Study (HPFS) found a suggestive protective effect in women but not in men (Liu et al, Cancer 2012). We conducted an updated analysis of statin use and risk of total and fatal RCC in the NHS, HPFS, and NHS 2 cohorts, with more than twice as many cases. Methods: We examined the associations between statin use and risk of RCC from 1990 to 2016 in HPFS (men), 1994 to 2016 in NHS (women), and 1999 to 2015 in NHS 2 (women). Information on statin use was collected every two years. We used Cox proportional hazards models, adjusting for known and suspected risk factors, to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for use of statins and risk of total and fatal RCC, RCC by stage at diagnosis, and clear cell RCC. We pooled results across cohorts using a random effects model. Results: We documented 661 cases of RCC (310 in HPFS, 255 in NHS, 96 in NHS 2), of which 132 (20%) were fatal. Of the 661 cases, 458 (69%) were clear cell. The pooled multivariable HR for total RCC was 1.01 (95% CI 0.84-1.21) for current statin use, updated over time. Current use was not associated with risk of fatal, advanced (stage T3 or higher), or localized (stage T1 or T2) disease. There were no associations between duration of statin use and risk of RCC; compared to never users, those with less than four years of total use had an HR of 0.91 (95% CI 0.71-1.18), and those with four or more years of use had an HR of 1.03 (95% CI 0.84-1.27). Among men, statin use was associated with increased risk of clear cell RCC (HR for current use: 1.48, 95% CI 1.04-2.11; HR for 4 or more years of use: 1.58, 95% CI 1.05-2.36). Statins were not associated with risk of clear cell RCC in women (HR for current use: 0.77, 95% CI 0.58-1.03; p-value for heterogeneity across cohorts = 0.02). Conclusions: Overall, statin use was not associated with risk of RCC in three large, prospective cohorts of US women and men. Statin use was associated with increased risk of clear cell RCC among men.