How effective are statins in preventing lung cancer?

How effective are statins in preventing lung cancer?

Jay M. Lee (Surgical Director, Thoracic Oncology Program, UCLA) gives expert video advice on: Does lung cancer run in families?; Is it true aspirin can help prevent lung cancer?; Can nutrition help prevent lung cancer? and more...

Statins have been shown to have promising and potential effects in chemo-prevention, meaning preventing and reducing the risk of cancer development. In a recent study, this was a retrospective case control study that was recently reported, and statins have shown to reduce the risk by 55%. That study has limitations and it warrants validation with better studies with prospective randomized trials, so until then it's unclear if statins should be recommended currently. It's really being investigated, but certainly there's potential that it may have a preventative role.