Preoperative statin use is not associated with improvement in survival after glioblastoma surgery

• The use of perioperative statins is not associated with improvement in progression free survival in glioblastoma multiforme patients.
• Mortality was similar between both groups of patients before and after propensity score matching.
• Age and dexamethasone use were independent prognostic factors of survival.

Cohort studies have suggested that the use of statins is associated with decreased risk of glioma formation and mortality. Here, a cohort of patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) was analyzed to further investigate associations between preoperative use of statins and recurrence, and progression free and overall survival. Patients who had surgery for GBM (N = 284) were followed up for a median of 18.1 months. Seventy-eight patients were taking statins preoperatively while the rest were not. Cox proportional hazards models adjusted for several covariates of interest were applied before and after propensity score matching. Compared with statin users, those not taking the lipid-lowering drugs had similar progression free survival before (hazard ratio [HR] 0.94, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.70–1.26; p = 0.68) and after propensity score matching (HR 0.95, 95% CI 0.67–1.35; p = 0.68). Mortality was similar between both groups of patients before (HR 0.94, 95% CI 0.70–1.22; p =  0.73) and after propensity score matching (HR 1.13, 95% CI 0.78–1.64; p = 0.49). Age and dexamethasone use were independent prognostic factors of survival. Contrary to previously published evidence, this study could not find an association between preoperative statin use and longer survival in GBM patients. Due to the small number of patients and retrospective nature of the study, further work is needed to understand the role of perioperative statins in GBM patients.