SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Oncol.
Sec. Gastrointestinal Cancers: Colorectal Cancer
This article is part of the Research TopicAdapting Drug Repurposing to Drug Resistance in Cancer Volume II: Developing Synergistic CombinationsView all 9 articles
Prognostic role of statins in colorectal cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Provisionally accepted
- 1Department of Emergency and Critical Care Medicine, Shanghai Pudong New Area People's Hospital, Pudong, China
- 2Shanghai Pudong New Area People's Hospital, Shanghai, China
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Abstract Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a leading cause of global cancer incidence and mortality. While the anti-tumor potential of statins has gained increasing attention, their exact impact on patient prognosis remains controversial. This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to comprehensively assess the association between statin use and survival outcomes in patients with CRC. Methods: We systematically searched the PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science databases for studies published from inception until October 31, 2025, that compared the impact of statin use versus non-use on the prognosis of patients with CRC. The quality of the included studies was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. The effect of statins was measured using hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs), and a random-effects model was employed for all pooled analyses. Results: A total of 25 observational studies involving 179,979 CRC patients were included. Statin use was significantly associated with reduced ACM (HR: 0.80; 95%CI: 0.74-0.86; P < 0.001) and CSM (HR: 0.77; 95%CI: 0.73-0.81; P < 0.001) in CRC patients. These benefits were consistently observed in both pre-diagnosis (ACM: HR = 0.78; CSM: HR = 0.78) and post-diagnosis statin use (ACM: HR = 0.83; CSM: HR = 0.75). However, no significant association was found between statin use and DFM (HR: 0.88; 95%CI: 0.60-1.29; P = 0.513) or RFM (HR: 1.01; 95%CI: 0.94-1.09; P = 0.831). Conclusion: Statin use is associated with a significant reduction in ACM and CSM among CRC patients. This benefit is consistently observed with both pre-diagnosis and post-diagnosis use, suggesting statins may serve as a potential intervention to improve prognosis in CRC patients.
Keywords: colorectal cancer, Meta-analysis, prognosis, Statins, Systematic review
Received: 08 Dec 2025; Accepted: 29 Jan 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Gang, Zhang, Wang, Xu and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Li Gang
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