Research: Statins may lower death by cancer risk

Syracuse (WSYR-TV) -- New research suggests statin use may lower the risk of death by cancer.

The study by Danish researchers was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

It looked at data on nearly 300,000 patients in Denmark diagnosed with cancer between 1995 and 2007.

They were ages 40 and up.

The data shows cancer patients taking cholesterol-lowering statin drugs were 15 percent less likely to die during the study period than those who didn’t.

An American Cancer Society spokesman called the findings “intriguing and exciting” and worthy of further research, but says it doesn’t mean people with cancer should start taking statins.