Prospective analysis of association between use of statins and melanoma risk in the Womens Health Initiative

Jagtap D et al. – There was no significant association between statin use and melanoma risk among postmenopausal women in the Women's Health Initiative (WHI).

Methods

• The study population consisted of 119,726 postmenopausal white women, in which 1099 cases of malignant melanoma were identified over an average (±standard deviation) of 11.6±3.2years.
• All diagnoses were confirmed by medical record review and pathology reports.
• Information on statin use was collected at baseline and during follow-up.
• Self-administered and interview-administered questionnaires were used to collect information on other risk factors.
• Cox proportional hazards regression was used to calculate hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs).
• Analyses investigated the association of any statin use, type, potency, lipophilic status, and duration of use with melanoma.

Results

• Statins were used by 8824 women (7.4%) at baseline.
• The annualized rate of melanoma was 0.09% among statin users and 0.09% among nonusers.
• The multivariable adjusted HR for statin users compared with nonusers was 1.14 (95% CI, 0.91-1.43).
• There were no significant differences in risk based on statin type, potency, category, duration, or in time-dependent models.

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