Simvastatin Effect in Combination With Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy to Clinical Response and Tumor-Free Margin in Locally Advanced Breast Cancer

Introduction: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) has been the standard therapy for treating patients with locally advanced breast cancer (LABC). Doxorubicin-based regimen showed a clinical response for 70-80%. However, the cardiotoxicity from it was not tolerable. Simvastatin acts synergistically with doxorubicin against MCF-7 cells, through downregulation of the cell cycle or induction of apoptosis. Also, it alleviates doxorubicin cardiotoxicity by attenuating ER stress and activating the Akt pathway. Hmgcris a new pathway mediating doxorubicin-induced cell death, and cholesterol control drugs combined with doxorubicin could enhance efficacy and reduce side effects. This study is conducted to see the combination simvastatin and CAF would increase the NACT response and surgical margin of LABC patients. Methods: This study was a double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled trial, conducted in dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital and Koja General Hospital. A total of 70 LABC patients were assessed for eligibility. Patients received either a combination of CAF-Simvastatin (40 mg/day) or CAF-Placebo. The biopsy was taken pre-NACT to make the histopathological diagnosis and examine the expression of HMG-CoA Reductase (Hmgcr) and P-glycoprotein (P-gp). Patients were evaluated for the clinical response after 3 cycles. If the response was positive, patients will proceed to surgery. Then, the post-operative specimen will be reviewed for the pathological response. However, if it was a negative response, patients will be given 2nd line NACT.