Men taking statins have an 11% increased risk of high-grade prostate cancer

This study was published in Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases 2013 Apr 9

Study title and authors:
Statin use and risk of prostate cancer and high-grade prostate cancer: results from the REDUCE study.

Freedland SJ, Hamilton RJ, Gerber L, Banez LL, Moreira DM, Andriole GL, Rittmaster RS.
Surgery Section, Durham VA Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23567655

This study examined the association between statins and prostate cancer and low-grade and high-grade prostate cancer. The study included 6,729 men, aged 50-75 years, who were followed for four years. (low-grade cancer is likely to develop more slowly than high-grade cancer).

The study found:
(a) Men taking statins had a 5% increased risk of prostate cancer compared to men not taking statins.
(b) Men taking statins had a 3% increased risk of low-grade prostate cancer compared to men not taking statins.
(c) Men taking statins had an 11% increased risk of high-grade prostate cancer compared to men not taking statins.

Men taking statins developed prostate cancer more frequently than men not taking statins.