Background Previous studies have analysed the effect of statins on the response duration to androgen deprivation therapy in metastatic prostate cancer (mCRPC)¹ but without using abiraterone.

Purpose The aim of this study was to explore whether statins affect survival outcomes in our population of mCRPC patients treated with abiraterone as firstline therapy.

Material and methods We performed a retrospective observational study with mCRPC patients who received abiraterone as firstline therapy in our department between August 2014 and October 2016. The variables collected were: patient age, duration of treatment with abiraterone, progression to abiraterone (y/n) and concomitant treatment with statins (y/n). All patients had bone metastases and had not received prior chemotherapy. For descriptive statistics we estimated medians for continuous variables and populations, and frequencies for categorical variables. Progression free survival (PFS) was calculated and analysed with the Kaplan–Meier test using SPSS 15.0. We assumed statistical significance when p (log rank) was ≤0.05.

Results 45 men with mCRPC treated with abiraterone as firstline therapy were investigated. Median global age was 80 years (51–92). 22 (49%) had never received statins, while 23 (51%) were using statins concomitantly during treatment. Median age for both groups was very similar: no statins 80 years (51–92) versus statins 80 years (52–90). 18/45 patients had progression during treatment: 12/22 from the no statins group and 6/23 from the statins group. Global PFS was 20.6 months (17.7–23.6). PFS for the no statins group was 8.7 months (3.2–14.1) while in the statins group it was 20.6 months (17.1–24.2). We observed a statistically significant difference in PFS between both groups (p (Log rank)=0.017).

Conclusion Although our results seem to show a clear benefit from concomitant treatment with statins in patients with mCRPC receiving abiraterone, we need to interpret these results with caution. Some limitations could affect the results: small sample size (which involves low power analysis) and other external factors which could affect survival outcomes in our population. As this was an exploratory study, further better designed studies are needed to clarify these preliminary results.

References and/or acknowledgements 1. Jung J, et al. Effects of statin use on the response duration to androgen deprivation therapy in metastatic prostate cancer. Korean J Urol2015; 56:630–636. doi:10.4111/kju.2015.56.9.630

No conflict of interest