Improved Fibrosis-4 group transitions seen over time for patients with chronic liver disease using statins
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter
WEDNESDAY, March 19, 2025 (HealthDay News) — For patients with chronic liver disease, statin use is associated with a reduced risk for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and hepatic decompensation, according to a study published online March 17 in JAMA Internal Medicine.
Jonggi Choi, M.D., Ph.D., from the University of Ulsan College of Medicine in Seoul, South Korea, and colleagues used data from the Research Patient Data Registry from 2000 to 2023 for patients aged 40 years or older with chronic liver disease and a baseline Fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) score of 1.3 or higher to examine the association between statin use and the risk for HCC and hepatic decompensation.
The analysis included 16,501 participants: 3,610 statin users and 12,891 nonusers. The researchers found that compared with nonusers, statin users had a significantly lower 10-year cumulative incidence of HCC (3.8 versus 8.0 percent) and hepatic decompensation (10.6 versus 19.5 percent). The adjusted subhazard ratios were 0.67 and 0.78 for HCC and hepatic decompensation, respectively. Further reductions in HCC and hepatic decompensation risks were seen in association with exposure to lipophilic statins and duration of statin use (≥600 cumulative defined daily dose). Among 7,038 patients with serial FIB-4 data with intermediate baseline FIB-4 scores, 14.7 percent of statin users and 20.0 percent of nonusers transitioned to the high group. For patients with high baseline FIB-4 scores, 31.8 and 7.0 percent of statin users transitioned to the intermediate-risk and low-risk groups, respectively, compared with 18.8 and 4.3 percent of nonusers.
“These findings underscore the potential of statins as chemopreventive agents against HCC through their role in mitigating fibrosis progression,” the authors write.
One author disclosed ties to Gilead Sciences Research.
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