Post-diagnosis statin use and survival among head and neck cancer patients: a cohort study in a universal health care system

Little research has been conducted on the relationship between statin use and the survival of head and neck cancer patients. This study assessed whether statin use after head and neck cancer diagnosis is associated with overall survival among patients in the U.S. military health system (MHS) that provides universal health care to its beneficiaries. The study included 1842 patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) from MHS. Statin use was extracted from the pharmacy database of the Military Health System Data Repository (MDR). Time-dependent multivariate Cox proportional hazards models were used to assess the relationship between post-diagnosis statin use and overall survival with the adjustment for potential confounders. Compared to non-users, increased post-diagnosis cumulative use of statins (per one-year of use) conferred a significant improved survival with adjusted hazard ratio (HR) of 0.70 (95% Confidence Interval, CI = 0.55 to 0.90). When analysis was stratified by status of statin use prior to HNSCC diagnosis, the HRs were 0.31 (95% CI = 0.15-0.65) and 0.81 (95% CI = 0.59-1.11) for post-diagnosis users who also used it before HNSCC diagnosis and those who only used it after the diagnosis, respectively. Prolonged statin use was associated with improved survival among HNSCC patients in MHS.