Calcium-channel blockers linked with increased breast cancer risk

OLDER women who take certain types of medication to combat high blood pressure may be putting themselves at greater risk for developing breast cancer, according to a new study by a team of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center scientists.

The study, led by Christopher Li, M.D., Ph.D. (seen in photo), is the first to observe that long-term use of a class of antihypertensive drugs known as calcium-channel blockers in particular are associated with breast cancer risk. The team’s findings will be published online Aug. 5 in JAMA Internal Medicine.
Antihypertensive drugs are the most frequently prescribed type of medications in the United States, with more than 678 million prescriptions filled in 2010, nearly 98 million of which were for calcium-channel blockers.
Despite widespread and often long-term use of these drugs, studies and evidence linking antihypertensives to breast cancer have been sparse and inconsistent. 
“Because hypertension is a chronic condition, most people with high blood pressure use antihypertensive drugs chronically and will often stay on the same regimen for long periods of time,” Li said. “Characterizing their potential associations with the most common cancer in women is an important clinical and public health issue, particularly with the increasing availability of alternative options to manage hypertension,” said Li, head of the Translational Research Program and member of the Public Health Sciences Division at Fred Hutch.
In addition to calcium-channel blockers, other classes of antihypertensive drugs include angiotensin-converting-enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, angiotensin-receptor blockers, beta blockers and diuretics. Combinations of such drugs are also prescribed. “Each drug has different potential benefits as well as side effects,” Li said. “Choice of which regimen a patient is given depends on their tolerance of medication, other conditions, and whether their hypertension can be managed by a single drug or requires a combination of drugs.”
The purpose of the Hutch study was to assess the relationship between the major classes of antihypertensive drugs and risk of the two moMens Running Shoes & Running Trainers