— Christine M. Kukka, Project Manager, HBV Advocate
For years, doctors refrained from prescribing statins–cholesterol-lowering drugs–to hepatitis B patients for fear they might worsen liver damage. Statins reduce cholesterol by blocking a chemical in the liver that is needed to produce cholesterol.
But new studies find statins not only effectively prevent high cholesterol in hepatitis B patients, they also protect these patients against liver cancer.
According to a report published in the September/October 2014 online journal, Dr. Robert Gish's hepaHealth, not only do statins safely reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease in patients with viral hepatitis, but a study of 1.4 million patients with 4,298 cases of liver cancer found that statins reduced liver cancer by 37%.
Additionally, when statins were added to ongoing chemotherapy to treat liver cancer, they prolonged survival. However, researchers are not sure how statins lower cancer risk, and Gish called for additional research into these drugs.
"Future research should include substantiating the preventative role of statins in liver cancer so that the use of these drugs can be incorporated into current practice guidelines for the prevention and treatment of this aggressive cancer, especially in those with mild liver disease who may benefit the most from such therapeutic intervention," he wrote.
Labels: protective effect of statins, statins
