Impact of statins on cardiovascular and hematologic outcomes in MPN

Results from a multicenter retrospective cohort study, investigating the impact of statins on cardiovascular and hematologic outcomes in 669 patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN), were published in Blood Advances by Leiva et al. Eligible patients had at least one transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE) performed between 2010 and 2024, and were diagnosed with polycythemia vera (PV; n = 267), essential thrombocythemia (ET; n = 234), or myelofibrosis (MF; n = 168). The association between statin use on major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), MPN disease progression, and all-cause death was assessed.

Key data: After inverse-probability treatment weighting, statin use was associated with a lower risk of MACE (subhazard ratio [SHR], 0.83; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.70–0.98) but not MPN disease progression (SHR, 0.96; 95% CI, 0.72–1.29) or all-cause death (hazard ratio [HR], 1.04; 95% CI, 0.87–1.24). Among patients with ET or PV, statin use was associated with a lower risk of MACE only (SHR, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.64–0.95), while no association between statin use and cardiovascular or hematologic outcomes was found in patients with MF.

Key learning: Statin therapy was associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular events in patients with ET or PV, but not in those with MF. Statins were not associated with MPN disease progression or all-cause death. Further studies are warranted to better understand the utility of statin therapy in patients with MPN and to identify patients most likely to benefit.