Initially, a substance screening to search for MACC1 inhibitors led to the drug class of HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors, better known as statins. In the next step, researchers tested this discovery on various tumor cell lines – with success: all seven tested active substances reduced MACC1 expression in the cells, but not all to the same extent. Next, genetically modified mice with increased MACC1 expression were treated with statins. The animals then developed hardly any tumors and metastases. “What is particularly remarkable is that this continued to work in the animals even following we reduced the dose in relation to the amount that humans normally take,” says Stein.
The observations align with another finding, which involves analyzing data from a total of 300,000 statin users. According to Preißner, the incidence of cancer in statin users was half that of the general population.
