The lack of progress in the war on cancer is serious enough without having to resort to exaggeration. Yet, to judge by his comments in a recent article, Mr. Brian Peskin, BSEE, evidently feels that exaggeration is justified ("Statins and Increased Cancer: The Hidden Story and a New Solution," Townsend Letter, Feb/March 2008). But embellishments such as Peskin's are likely to devalue more serious attempts to critique that war.

In the first paragraph of his article, Peskin refers to both a "rising incidence" and "significant increase" in cancer. He then speculates on whether this alleged increase is being caused by the widespread use of statins. I share some of Peskin's concern about the safety of statins. But before one can even postulate an association between statin use and rising cancer incidence, one first needs to establish whether or not there has in fact been a significant increase in cancer incidence. The short answer is no, at least according to US government statistics.

Between 1995 and 2000, cancer incidence rates among US men did not rise, but actually stabilized. Cancer mortality rates among men also decreased by 1.5 percent per year between 1992 and 2000. Between 1987 and 2000, cancer incidence continued to increase among females, but only by 0.4 percent per year. (The most likely cause of this increase was tobacco use among women, a trend that began in the 1970s.) The cancer mortality rate stabilized from 1998 through 2000 among women. Cancer death rates from the three major types of cancer in men (lung and bronchus, colon and rectum, and prostate), and from breast and colorectal cancers in women, also continued to decrease during the late 1990s, a time when, according to Peskin, one might have expected to see them rise.

The American Cancer Society has estimated the number of new cancer cases through 2003 and the number of deaths through 2004. Notable trends included (a) stabilization of incidence rates for all cancers combined in men from 1995 through 2003; (b) a continuing increase in the incidence rate of 0.3 percent per year in women (again, most likely due to smoking); and (c) a 13.6 percent total decline in death rates among men and women combined between 1991 and 2004 (Jamal et al. 2007).

Between 2002 and 2004 (at this writing the latest figures available) there was a small but possibly significant decrease in cancer mortality. A review of US death certificates carried out by the National Center for Health Statistics found that the number of cancer deaths had dropped from 557,272 in 2002 to 556,902 in 2003, representing an absolute decline of 370 deaths between 2002 and 2003. More significantly, the absolute number of cancer deaths in the US decreased by 3,014 between 2003 and 2004 (Grady 2007). So it is not true that cancer rates are rising dramatically, as Peskin asserts.

As to whether or not statins cause cancer, the jury is still out. Several studies have raised questions about a possible increase in the risk of cancer in patients taking statins, but the connection is far from proven. It is less than helpful - and certainly not supported by any scientific evidence - to claim, as Peskin does, that "with statin use… you will likely die of cancer" (p. 87, emphasis added). This statement is completely unfounded. There are an estimated 20 million statin users in the US, but in fact the per capita cancer rates were as high, or higher, before the introduction of statins than they have been since their introduction. How then could it possibly be the case that if one uses statins one is "likely to die of cancer"?

There is definitely a need for a sober examination of the pros and cons of statin use, including further study of the possibility that these drugs may increase the risk of cancer. But instead of inspiring further research, Peskin's article is likely to scare away serious-minded investigators because of its blatant misstatements about cancer incidence and mortality.

--Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D.

References:

Grady, Denise. Second Drop in Cancer Deaths Could Point to a Trend, Researchers Say. New York Times, Jan. 18, 2007.

Jemal A, Siegel R, Ward E, Murray T, Xu J, Thun MJ. Cancer statistics, 2007. CA Cancer J Clin. 2007 Jan-Feb;57(1):43-66.