Aspirin and statin use and the risk of gallbladder cancer.

Abstract

243 Background: The risk factors for gallbladder cancer (GBC) are poorly understood and preventive therapeutic options have not been identified. The use of aspirin (ASA) and/or statin has been associated with reduced risk of several gastrointestinal cancers. In this study, we explore if the use of ASA or statin is associated with a reduced risk of GBC. Methods: We identified patients with GBC diagnosed between the years 2000 and 2016 at Mayo Clinic. We identified matched controls in 2:1 fashion for age, gender and country of residence from patients who underwent cholecystectomy at Mayo Clinic. We collected information on co-morbidities and use of statins or ASA by retrospective chart review. We compared baseline characteristics between cases and controls using Fisher’s exact test for categorical variables and Mann-Whitney U test for continuous variables. We used binomial logistic regression to calculate the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) to estimate the association of ASA or statin use with GBC. The logistic regression model included history of cholelithiasis, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia (HCL), hypertension (HTN), hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism, primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), cirrhosis and statin or ASA use as covariates. Results: 633 cases and 1,266 controls were included in our final analysis. The median age at diagnosis of cases and controls was 67 years. The control group had a significantly (p < 0.05) higher proportion of patients with cholelithiasis, HCL, HTN, hypothyroidism and liver cirrhosis compared to the cases. The case group,contrarily, had a significantly higher proportion of patients with PSC and IBD. In univariate analysis, ASA (OR: 0.41; 95% CI: 0.33-0.52) or statin (OR: 0.48; 95% CI: 0.38-0.60) use was associated with a lower risk of GBC (p < 0.001). However, in multivariate analysis, ASA use was associated with a lower risk of GBC (OR: 0.52; 95% CI: 0.41-0.67, p < 0.001) whereas statin use was not (OR: 0.76; 95% CI: 0.56-1.03, p = 0.08). Conclusions: Our study demonstrates that aspirin use is associated with a reduced risk of GBC, whereas statin use is not. Further studies on GBC are needed to confirm these results and to elucidate mechanisms that explain the risk reduction with aspirin.

Personal comorbidities and their subsequent risks for liver, gallbladder and bile duct cancers

“…Aspirin use has been reported to reduce the risk of HCC to a relative risk of 0.62, according to a recent meta‐analysis 35 . Aspirin, other nonsteroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs, and statin may have even stronger effects in reducing the risk of GBC and CCA 36,37 . Considering the very high risk of bile duct infection on CCA, data would be urgently needed to intervene with the harmful sequelae after such infections.…”

Statins associate with lower risk of biliary tract cancers: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…17 Recent observational studies on the chemopreventive effects of statins on BTCs are conflicting, particularly their effects on different types of BTCs remain unclear. [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25] Herein, we perform a systemic review and meta-analysis of current literatures on the association between statin use and risks of BTCs.…”