• Nicole Felix, Paula C Nogueira, Isadora M Silva, Thomaz Alexandre Costa, Carlos Alberto Campello, Carlos Stecca, and Renato D Lopes.
• Federal University of Campina Grande, Campina Grande, Brazil.
• Eur. J. Intern. Med. 2024 Apr 19.

IntroductionSeveral interventions have been tested for cardio-protection against anthracycline-induced cancer therapy-related cardiovascular dysfunction (CTRCD). The role of statins in this setting remains unclear.MethodsWe systematically searched PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Clinicaltrials.gov, and Web of Science for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing statins versus control (placebo or no intervention) for preventing anthracycline-induced CTRCD. We applied a random-effects model to pool risk ratios (RR) and mean differences (MD) with 95 % confidence intervals (CI).ResultsWe included seven RCTs comprising 887 patients with planned chemotherapy with anthracycline-based regimens, of whom 49.8 % were randomized to statins. Relative to placebo, statins significantly reduced the incidence of cardiotoxicity/CTRCD (RR 0.46; 95 % CI 0.29 to 0.72; p < 0.001). The left ventricular end-systolic volume was also lower in patients treated with statin (MD -3.12 mL; 95 % CI -6.13 to -0.12 mL; p = 0.042). There was no significant difference between groups in post-anthracycline left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) overall.ConclusionIn this meta-analysis of RCTs, statins were significantly associated with a lower incidence of anthracycline-induced CTRCD and attenuated changes in the left ventricular end-systolic volume. Thus, our findings suggest that statins should be considered as a cardio-protection strategy for patients with planned anthracycline-based chemotherapy.Copyright © 2024 European Federation of Internal Medicine. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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