Did you know chronic inflammation accounts for 20% of cancers worldwide? In fact, chronic inflammation is associated with diseases like pancreatitis, and chronic pancreatitis, as it turns out, is associated with an 8-fold risk in pancreatic cancer.
Researchers at Mass General Cancer Center have uncovered that commonly used cholesterol-lowering compounds (statins) may actually block a pathway that leads to the development of cancer caused by chronic inflammation.
Interleukin 33 (IL-33) is an epithelium-derived cytokine that initiates chronic inflammation but its induction by environmental causes is unknown. IL-33 plays a complex role in cancer development. In tissue samples of human pancreas, researchers found that IL-33 was over-expressed in samples from patients with chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer compared with normal pancreatic tissue. In faact, blocking IL-33 can actually prevent cancer when chronic inflammation is concerned.
An FDA-approved library of over 1000 small molecules were screened in a luciferase-based expression assay. Cell-based experiments with cell lines, human tissue samples and epidemiological data found that exposure to allergens and chemicals can activate 2 signaling pathways: Toll-like receptor (TLR) 3/4 and TBK1-IRF3 pathways. Environmental toxins can initiate chronic inflammation in the pancreas and this inflammation can result in cancer.
Pitavastin, a common statin, was effective at reducing the risk of pancreatitis in mice and humans via suppression of IL-33 expression.
An epidemiological study looking at health records of over 200 million people in North America and Europe found Pitavastatin was linked to reduced chronic pancreatitis and reduced instances of pancreatic cancer.
Now that we know that statins can prevent chronic inflammation and subsequent development of certain cancers, research is underway to investigate whether statins can help prevent cancer development in other organs, and uncover other strategies to suppress chronic inflammation.
Reference
Park J et al (2024) Statin prevents cancer development in chronic inflammation by blocking interleukin 33 expression. Nature Comm. 15(1) See link.