Statins Effect on Oncologic Outcome in Larynx Squamous Cell Carcinoma: Commentary on Our Clinical Experience

Abstract

Abstract Background Some studies have suggested a protective role of statins in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (HNSCC) even though the real contribution of statins to morbidity and survival remains unclear.Porpose The aim of this study is to correlate the statin intake with the incidence and the prognosis of larynx cancer.Study Design Observational retrospective case-control with a consecutive enrollment.Methods The aim of this study is to retrospectively evaluate the oncological protection and the outcome of the statin intake in a population of patients affected by larynx squamous cell carcinoma that underwent total or partial laryngectomy. We enrolled and analyzed statin intake among 157 patients. Overall survival (OS) was compared between patients underwent total or partial laryngectomy assuming statin or not. We analyzed if statin intake could be statistically significant in increasing the overall survival. We also evaluated whether a less advanced stage of the tumor could be related to statin intake.Results The Kaplan-Meier survival curves for oncologic population assuming statins was 96.8% while it was 92.4% for patients that were not assuming statins. The Cox multivariate regression analysis didn’t identify a statistically significant OS benefit with statin intake.Conclusions Statin intake at the time of diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx has shown an improved OS even though statin consumption didn’t appear as a statistically significant variable probably due to the small number of patients analyzed.