Efficacy of lipophilic statins on outcomes of patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors

• Published in: Oncology
• Main Authors: Chiang, Cho-Han, Chen, Yuan-Jen, See, Xin Ya, Chang, Yu-Cheng, Wang, Shih-Syuan, Peng, Chun-Yu, Horng, Chuan-Sheng, Hsia, Yuan Ping, Chiang, Cho-Hung, Peng, Cheng-Ming, Chiang, Cho-Hsien
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland 01.09.2023
• ISSN: 1423-0232
• DOI: 10.1159/000529644

Statins are associated with improved survival outcomes in patients receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), but the impact of different statins on outcomes is unknown. We conducted a retrospective cohort study to investigate if statins with lipophilic properties are associated with improved clinical outcomes in patients treated with ICIs. There were 51 lipophilic statin users, 25 hydrophilic statin users, and 658 non-users. Lipophilic statin users had a longer median OS (38.0 [IQR, 16.7-not reached] vs. 15.2 [IQR, 8.2-not reached] months vs. 18.9 [IQR, 5.4-51.6] months) and PFS (13.0 [IQR, 4.7-41.5] vs. 8.2 [IQR, 2.2-14.7] months vs. 5.6 [2.3-18.7] months) than hydrophilic statin users and non-statin users. In Cox proportional hazard analyses, the use of lipophilic statins was associated with a 40-50% lower risk of mortality and disease progression compared with hydrophilic statin or non-statin users. In conclusion, the use of lipophilic statins seems to be associated with survival benefits in patients undergoing immunotherapy.