Statins as Anticancer Agents in the Era of Precision Medicine
Joseph Longo, Jenna E. van Leeuwen, Mohamad Elbaz, Emily Branchard, Linda Z. Penn
Abstract
Statins are widely prescribed cholesterol-lowering drugs that inhibit HMG-CoA reductase (HMGCR), the rate-limiting enzyme of the mevalonate metabolic pathway. Multiple lines of evidence indicate that certain cancers depend on the mevalonate pathway for growth and survival, and, therefore, are vulnerable to statin therapy. However, these immediately available, well-tolerated, and inexpensive drugs have yet to be successfully repurposed and integrated into cancer patient care. In this review, we highlight recent advances and outline important considerations for advancing statins to clinical trials in oncology.
Topics & Concepts
Mevalonate pathwayMedicineHMG-CoA reductaseStatinLimitingCancerPharmacologyReductasePrecision medicineClinical trialBioinformaticsOncologyInternal medicineEnzymeBiologyPathologyBiochemistryEngineeringMechanical engineeringCancer, Lipids, and MetabolismLipoproteins and Cardiovascular HealthFerroptosis and cancer prognosis