Support Care Cancer. 2026 Jan 11;34(2):84. doi: 10.1007/s00520-025-10295-1.
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: As people live longer after a cancer diagnosis, there is an increasing need to focus on chronic disease state management in the primary care setting. Particular attention to appropriate statin prescribing in cancer survivors is warranted given a heightened risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). The purpose of this study was to further understand cardiovascular care in cancer survivors by identifying the proportion of cancer survivors with a prescription for appropriate statin therapy and to identify associated factors.
METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was conducted to identify cancer survivors aged 40-75 years with a diagnosis of breast, lung, colorectal, or lymphatic and hematopoietic cancers cared for within family medicine clinics in a large academic health system. Statin prescriptions were assessed to identify the percentage of statin candidates prescribed a statin based on a diagnosis of ASCVD or type 2 diabetes.
RESULTS: Data from 8763 cancer survivors were included in the final analysis. Among patients with ASCVD, 66% were prescribed a statin. In patients with type 2 diabetes without ASCVD, 58% were prescribed a statin. Female sex was negatively associated with statin prescribing (OR 0.88, 95% CI 0.80-0.97).
CONCLUSIONS: Statins are underutilized in cancer survivors, as they are in the general population. This may present an area of health disparity given the heightened risk of ASCVD in cancer survivors. Cancer survivors suffer from a heightened risk of death from CVD. As survivors enjoy longer lifespans after diagnosis, there is a need to optimize cardiometabolic disease state management in this high-risk population.
PMID:41519990 | DOI:10.1007/s00520-025-10295-1