• Byungyoon Yun, Sang Hoon Ahn, Juyeon Oh, Jin-Ha Yoon, and Beom Kyung Kim.
• Department of Preventive Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
• Eur. J. Clin. Invest. 2023 Apr 1; 53 (4): e13936e13936.

BackgroundThe high postoperative recurrence rate of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a significant challenge. Patient metabolic factors are potential disease modifiers and should be examined as risk factors for postoperative prognosis. Here, we assessed the association between long-term statin use and HCC recurrence after surgical resection of hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related HCC.MethodsPatients who initially underwent curative resection for HBV-related HCC between 2005 and 2015 were recruited and followed up until December 2019. Patients were classified into statin user and non-statin user groups based on whether or not they had been prescribed statins for ≥2 years. The primary outcome was HCC recurrence, and the secondary outcome was liver-related mortality. The cumulative incidence by statin use was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method and compared using the log-rank test. Adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using multivariable Cox regression.ResultsAmong 5653 patients with a median 6.1 years of follow-up, HCC recurrence and liver-related mortality occurred in 1603 and 316 patients, respectively. The 5-year cumulative incidence of HCC recurrence in the statin user group (15.9%) was significantly lower than that in the non-user group (21.3%; p = .019). From multivariable Cox regression analysis, statin use was significantly associated with a reduced risk of HCC recurrence (aHR 0.77, 95% CI: 0.61-0.98; p = .035) and liver-related mortality (aHR 0.48, 95% CI: 0.25-0.90; p = .023).ConclusionLong-term statin use was significantly associated with reduced risk of HCC recurrence and liver-related mortality after curative resection of HBV-related HCC.© 2022 Stichting European Society for Clinical Investigation Journal Foundation. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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