Statin therapy following radiation treatment for head, neck or thoracic cancer could reduce the risk of future stroke by one-third, a Canadian study suggests.

But Melbourne oncologist Associate Professor Gerry Hanna says that, although stroke risk can be elevated following radiotherapy, clinicians should not rush to prescribe statins in these patients unless they have specific cardiovascular risk factors.

In the largest study to date looking at whether statin therapy reduces vascular complications in patients undergoing radiotherapy, researchers conducted a retrospective cohort study of 5700 cardiac patients, including a subset treated with radiation for thoracic, head or neck cancer from 2000-11.

About 4200 patients were identified as statin users. The mean age of the cohort was 75 and only those aged 65 and over were included in the study.