Statin therapy reduces the risk of stroke in cancer patients after radiation

Cancer patients taking cholesterol-lowering statin medication following radiation therapy of the chest, neck or head had significantly reduced risk of suffering a stroke, and possibly other cardiovascular complications, according to new research in Journal of the American Heart Association, the Open Access Journal of the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association.

This is the first large study to explore whether statins reduce cardiovascular complications in patients who have radiation therapy for chest, head or neck cancer.

More than half of cancer patients are treated with radiation therapy, which uses high doses of radiation to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. While radiation treatment has become more precise and long-term survival rates have improved, the radiation can affect nearby healthy cells and cause side effects many years later.

Radiation therapy side effects include scarring or thickening of arteries, and over time that can lead to blockages that cause heart attack and stroke. In fact, the authors point out that cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of illness and death among cancer survivors.

The newly published study looked at whether statin medication, which reduces the formation of plaques that block blood vessels, might lower the risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease after radiation therapy to the chest, neck or head. The researchers found that the use of statins was associated with a 32% reduction in stroke.
Source: Statin therapy reduced the risk of stroke and possibly other cardiovascular complications in cancer patients following radiation