Special Report: Blood Pressure Drugs linked to Cancer
A widely used class of blood pressure drugs has been shown to increase the risk of cancer in an analysis conducted by researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland.
Researchers studied three of the seven most commonly prescribed angiotensin-receptor blockers telmisartan, sold as Micardis: losartan, sold as Cozaar; and candesatan, sold as Atacand and found a slight cancer risk when compared to a placebo drug.
In addition to treating high blood pressure, ARBs are also used for heart failure and kidney damage due to diabetes, according to the study, which is available online, and in the British medical journal, The Lancet Oncology.
This class of drugs works by blocking the receptors for angiotensin II, a hormone that increases blood pressure. The authors note that although there are no major safety concerns with ARBS, a previous trail has reported a significantly increased risk off fatal cancers in patients receiving candesartan compared with placebo.
To examine the link between ARBs and cancer, Dr. Ilke Sipahi, a cardiologist and associate director of heart failure and transplantation at University Hospitals Case Medical Center, and an assistant professor of medicine at Case Western, and colleagues analyzed new cancer data in five trials conducted before 2009 involving the incidence of lung, prostate and breast in 68,402 patients; and cancer deaths in eight trail that included 93,515 patients.
Most patients in the trails, about 86 percent received the ARB telmisartan. Of all the cancers with a 25 percent risk was considered significantly increased on patients taking ARBs versus the control group. The combined risk of breast, lung and prostate cancers was 10 percent. No significant death risk was seen, however the authors noted that the data involving the deaths of patients maybe incomplete.
“Our findings are very concerning” said Sipahi “Even though the risk was modest; these drugs are used by millions of the people. Eighty million prescriptions went out last year. They are arguably the most popular blood pressure pill. … That’s hundreds of thousands of cancers in this country and around the world may be caused by these drugs. So it’s an issues that has to be investigated further.”
Sipahi called on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to reexamine this class of drugs for cancer risks and to ask the pharmaceutical companies for all relevant data tying the drugs to cancer. “Our findings are important, but it is a first step, not a last step,” he said.
Because the drugs are beneficial to people who are at risk for serious complications from blood pressure, heart failure and diabetes-related kidney failure, Sipahi recommended patients do not stop taking these drugs without first speaking with their physicians.
“The message for patients who are on these drugs is that ARBs have very beneficial effects… so patients currently on them shouldn’t stop talking them on their own,” he said. “They should talk with a physician about the risks and benefits of taking these drugs according to their situations and whether they should continue taking them or take an alternative. And alternatives do exist.”
If you would like to read the summary of the study it can read online at:
The Lancet Oncology
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