Statins may reduce risk of cancer

Cholesterol lowering drugs that are used to prevent heart problems can reduce the risk of bowel cancer by 12 per cent, a study suggests.

The beneficial effect of statins emerged from an analysis of 22 studies involving more than 2.5 million participants.

"Statin use was associated with a statistically significant reduction in colorectal cancer," said Dr Jewel Samadder from the University of Michigan.