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Review
. 2020 Nov 15;26(22):5791-5800.
doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-20-1967. Epub 2020 Sep 4.

Statins as Anticancer Agents in the Era of Precision Medicine

Joseph Longo  1   2 , Jenna E van Leeuwen #  1   2 , Mohamad Elbaz #  1 , Emily Branchard #  1 , Linda Z Penn  3   2
Affiliations
Review

Statins as Anticancer Agents in the Era of Precision Medicine

Joseph Longo et al. Clin Cancer Res. .

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.

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