Association Between Statin Use and Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer Risk: A Distributed Network Analysis of 11 Real-World Databases

BACKGROUND: Given the dual potential of statins to act as both carcinogenic and antineoplastic agents, evidence from previous investigations into statin use and the risk of nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC) remains inconclusive. OBJECTIVE: To demonstrate the impact of statin exposure on the NMSC risk in Korean patients. METHODS: We carried out a multicenter cohort study based on electronic health record data aggregated from 11 Korean hospitals. Patients with hyperlipidemia who had been taking antilipidemic agents, including statins were included in this study. We applied 1:1 propensity score matching to create balanced cohorts and used Cox regression to assess the hazard ratio (HR) for NMSC. RESULTS: A total of 18,579 statin users and a matched number of non-users were included across 11 databases. Statin use showed no significant association with an increased risk of NMSC (HR, 1.03; 95% confidence interval, 0.75-1.43). Subgroup analyses of drug exposure, age, and sex depicted no significant HR trends. CONCLUSION: Statin exposure demonstrated no significant association with NMSC development in Korean patients with hyperlipidemia.