A Meta-Analysis of Statin Use and Risk of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Table 3

Subgroup analysis to examine sources of heterogeneity observed in summary estimate.

Subgroup analysis		No. of studies	Adjusted OR	95% CI	Tests of heterogeneity			Heterogeneity between groups ()
							I^2 (%)
Study design
Observational		28	0.57	0.49–0.66	<0.00001		91	0.03^a
RCT		3	0.95	0.62–1.45	0.57		0
Study location
Asian		9	0.54	0.42–0.70	0.0008		70	0.48
Western		22	0.60	0.51–0.71	<0.00001		90
Etiology of liver disease
HBV		3	0.44	0.22–0.85	0.06		65	0.58
HCV		4	0.53	0.49–0.57	0.79		0
Chronic liver disease
Yes		11	0.52	0.40–0.68	<0.00001		95	0.42
No		18	0.60	0.50–0.72	<0.00001		86
Molecule
Lipophilic	7		0.51	0.46–0.57		0.16	23	0.007^a
Hydrophilic	6		0.77	0.58–1.02		0.06	45
Simvastatin	6		0.53	0.48–0.59		0.77	0	0.12
Atorvastatin	5		0.54	0.45–0.64		0.56	0
Fluvastatin	3		0.83	0.48–1.44		0.33	10
Pravastatin	5		0.77	0.57–1.05		0.71	0
Rosuvastatin	4		0.55	0.37–0.83		0.55	0
Lovastatin	2		0.30	0.15–0.62		0.36	0
Pitavastatin	2		0.36	0.17–0.75		0.54	0
Cerivastatin	2		0.61	0.26–1.42		0.34	0
Cumulative defined daily dose
≤365	6		0.55	0.47–0.65		0.04	47	0.02^a
>365	4		0.38	0.28–0.50		0.44	0
Statin combined with aspirin
Statin and aspirin	2		0.57	0.40–0.81		<0.00001	92	0.08^a
Just aspirin	4		0.86	0.65–1.14		0.02	69
Time period
≤10 years	10		0.65	0.52–0.80		<0.00001	92	0.16
>10 years	18		0.54	0.48–0.61		0.0003	62

, explains source of heterogeneity between groups.