Do Statins Cause Cancer?

For years rumors have circulated on the Internet that statins might cause cancer. The rumors trace their start to a 1996 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association that suggested a link between cancer, statins, and fibrates, another class of drug that lowers cholesterol. Researchers examining animal studies in which the two drugs were given to rats found that the rodents developed cancer more often than usual. In some cases the cancer occurred with drug doses close to two later studies examining large populations of people taking statins found no connection between this class of drug and cancer.