Summary
A recent study published in JAMA Internal Medicine evaluated the association of statin use on the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma and hepatic decompensation in patients with chronic liver disease.
The cohort study included 16,501 patients 40 years of age or older with chronic liver disease and a baseline Fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) score ≥ 1.3, using data from the Research Patient Data Registry spanning from 2000 to 2023. Participants were stratified into statin users and nonusers.
The results indicated that statin exposure, particularly with lipophilic agents (atorvastatin, fluvastatin, lovastatin, pitavastatin, simvastatin) and prolonged use (≥ 600 cumulative defined daily doses), was associated with significantly lower 10-year cumulative incidences of hepatocellular carcinoma (3.8% vs. 8%) and hepatic decompensation (10.6% vs. 19.5%). Further, multivariable analysis demonstrated a 33% risk reduction for hepatocellular carcinoma among statin users, with a reduced risk also evident in patients with metabolic-associated steatotic liver disease.
Serial evaluations of FIB-4 score revealed beneficial transitions from high-risk to lower-risk fibrosis categories, underscoring the potential of statins as preventive agents in chronic liver disease through the mitigation of fibrosis progression.
Sources
Choi J, Nguyen VH, Przybyszewski E, et al. Statin use and risk of hepatocellular carcinoma and liver fibrosis in chronic liver disease. JAMA Intern Med. 2025;185(5):522–530. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2025.0115.
This summary was created with assistance from generative artificial intelligence (Microsoft CoPilot, 2025)
Featured Authors
Colin Crowe, MD
Case Western Reserve University