Statins have been shown to have a potential protective effect against cancer, but no studies have looked at the chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infected population. So to investigate the relationship between statin use and the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in HBV-infected patients, Yu-TseTsan et al. from National Taiwan University conducted a study, the results of which were published in the latest issue of JCO. This was a population-based cohort study that included subjects from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. A total of 33,413 HBV-infected patients were included and followed up individually to determine the incidence of liver cancer since 1999. The follow-up period was 1997-2008. Cox proportional risk regression models were used to calculate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals for statin use and hepatocellular carcinogenesis in the HBV-infected population. Ultimately, 1021 cases of hepatocellular carcinoma were seen during 328,946 person-years of follow-up. The overall incidence rate was 310.4 per 100,000 person-years. There was a dose-response relationship between statin use and the risk of developing liver cancer. Using the statin-naïve population as the reference standard (<28 cDDDs), the corrected HRs for the statin cumulative daily doses (cDDDs) 28-90, 91-365 and >365 populations were 0.66 (95% CI: 0.44-0.99), 0.41 (95% CI: 0.27-0.61) and 0.34 (95% CI: 0.18-0.67). This leads to the conclusion that statin use may reduce the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with hepatitis B virus infection. However, further mechanistic studies are needed in the future.