Cholesterol-lowering statin drugs do prevent heart attacks and may offer other health benefits, but contrary to popular belief the blockbuster drugs do not prevent cancer, researchers said on Tuesday.

Some preliminary studies have shown lower rates of breast, prostate and colon cancers among statin users, but the analysis of 26 carefully constructed studies involving 87,000 patients concluded the drugs had no impact on cancer rates, according to their report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

“When we put all the trials together we were hopeful of validating a cancer-protective effect, but we ended up not finding any,” study author Michael White of the University of Connecticut and Hartford Hospital said in a telephone interview.

White said studies that have found a link between statin use and protection against cancer examined databases of patients with or without cancer and then looked backward for statin use. So-called case-controlled studies are relatively inexpensive and are provocative, but do not prove anything, he said.

In contrast, his team dug into data from randomized studies where patients were recruited and divided into groups to be given statins or a placebo to measure effectiveness against heart disease. The studies also tracked cancer cases because of early concerns that statins might cause or promote cancer.

“It’s come full circle - first they thought it was a great drug for heart disease that might cause cancer, then they thought it might prevent cancer, but we now know they can take the drug safely without risk of cancer” but cannot expect to be protected from cancer, White said.

The analysis also isolated individual statin drugs and different types of cancer to see if there were any relationships, but found none.

“We don’t want to dilute the positives from statins ... but if you don’t have heart disease and take them to prevent cancer, that’s not a good reason,” White said.

A small number of people who take statins can experience a breakdown of muscle and suffer organ damage, he said.

Statins are the most prescribed drugs in the world, and some studies have indicated they may help prevent Alzheimer’s disease as well. White said his group could not rule out the effect on Alzheimer’s.