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" Statins may help to prevent people diagnosed with lung cancer from dying from the disease, a new study has suggested. This is the finding of research carried out by doctors from the Centre for Public Health at Queen&amp;#039;s University Belfast in Northern Ireland, who discovered that people who took statins in the year leading up to or during the 12 months after a lung cancer diagnosis were significantly less likely to die from their condition. Data from nearly 14,000 lung cancer patients was collected for the study, with the team looking at the time span since their diagnosis, as well as their statin use and whether or not their disease was fatal. Six months after diagnosis, it was found that individuals who took statins were 11 per cent less likely to have died from the condition than their counterparts not taking such drugs. What&amp;#039;s more, the researchers discovered that patients on multiple statin prescriptions had a 19 per cent reduced chance of dying from their cancer, with this also being the case for those taking lipophilic statins, such as simvastatin. Overall, it was found that people who took statins for other health reasons in the 12 months before their lung cancer diagnosis were 12 per cent less likely to have a fatal form of the disease, suggesting that prolonged use of statins may help to cut cancer fatalities. Research leader Chris Cardwell commented: &amp;#039;Our study provides some evidence that lung cancer patients who used statins had a reduction in the risk of death from lung cancer. &amp;#039;This finding is worthy of further investigation in observational studies. If replicated \u2026 this would provide evidence in favour of conducting a randomised, controlled trial of simvastatin in lung cancer patients.&amp;#039; Statins are most commonly prescribed to help target high levels of bad cholesterol, which can cause the arteries to harden and narrow, potentially resulting in cardiovascular problems, such as a stroke or heart attack. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/healthy-living/news/a25573/can-statins-prevent-fatal-lung-cancer/>