title: Chronic calcium antagonist use in carcinoma of the lung and colon: a retrospective cohort observational study.
abstract: Detailed records were maintained prospectively of all medications taken by 719 patients with advanced carcinoma of the lung or colon. Of this total, a cohort of 19 patients was identified who had ingested incidentally either nifedipine, diltiazem, verapamil, or trifluoperazine in standard therapeutic doses for a minimum of one month and a mean of 5.8 months and median of three months. Treatment with these calcium antagonists was well tolerated and, upon comparison with otherwise comparable patients who did not ingest a calcium antagonist, appeared to be associated with certain favorable outcomes, including delayed tumor progression and prolonged survival. These preliminary findings suggest that beneficial effects of such drugs observed with chronic treatment in experimental animal tumor models may occur in human disease and that definitive prospective, randomized, clinical trials of calcium antagonists administered continuously in ordinary therapeutic doses are both feasible and justified.
authors.affiliation: Norris Cotton Cancer Center, Department of Medicine, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Hanover, New Hampshire.
authors.forename: L R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Zacharski
authors.forename: T E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Moritz
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Haakenson
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: O'Donnell
authors.forename: H S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Ballard
authors.forename: G J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Q S
authors.initials: QS
authors.lastname: Ringenberg
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Schilsky
authors.forename: M B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Spaulding
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tornyos
mesh_terms: D002118:Calcium / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*; D018288:Carcinoma, Small Cell / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality; D004110:Diltiazem / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality; D009543:Nifedipine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis; D014268:Trifluoperazine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014700:Verapamil / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D014268:Trifluoperazine; D014700:Verapamil; D004110:Diltiazem; D009543:Nifedipine; D002118:Calcium