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Statins may modestly reduce the risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) but not colon cancer, a Swedish study suggests.

Researchers compared statin use by 3,994 people with HCC and 21,143 patients with colon cancer as well as 19,970 and 105,715 controls respectively matched for age and sex. Simvastatin was the most commonly prescribed statin (79-86 per cent across the groups) followed by atorvastatin (10-14 per cent) and rosuvastatin (2-9 per cent).

After adjusting for potential confounders, HCC risk was 12 per cent lower among statin users, but the odds ratio for colon cancer was 1.04 compared with non-users.

The authors of the study say that large, randomised placebo-controlled trials in high-risk patients – such as those with chronic hepatitis – are needed before drawing definitive conclusions about whether statins protect against hepatocellular carcinoma.