The diagnosis of renal cell cancer in relation to hypertension (United States).
OBJECTIVE
Renal cell cancer has been associated with hypertension or with drugs to treat it in several studies. We assessed whether the association is explained by more frequent detection of early renal cell cancer among persons being treated for hypertension.


METHODS
The data were collected in our Case-Control Surveillance Study, in which patients aged 20 to 69 years were interviewed in hospitals in Baltimore, Boston, New York, and Philadelphia during 1976-1996. We compared 134 incident cases of renal cell cancer who were being treated with drugs for hypertension to 193 untreated cases with respect to the route to diagnosis and the stage.


RESULTS
The relative risk estimate for having been diagnosed incidentally during a routine examination or workup for another condition, relative to having been diagnosed because of symptoms of renal cell cancer, was 1.3 (95 percent confidence interval, 0.7-2.5). The estimate for diagnosis at stage I or II relative to stage III or IV was 1.2 (0.7-2.1).


CONCLUSIONS
In Case-Control Surveillance Study data, the relative risk estimate for renal cancer among users of various classes of antihypertensive drugs is 1.8 or 1.9. The present results suggest that this association can, at most, be explained only partially by the selective diagnosis of renal cell cancer among persons being treated for hypertension.
Rosenberg
L
L
Slone Epidemiology Unit, School of Public Health, Boston University School of Medicine, Brookline, MA 02146, USA. lrosenberg@slone.bu.edu
Stephenson
W P
WP
Rao
R S
RS
Palmer
J R
JR
Strom
B L
BL
Shapiro
S
S
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015142:Baltimore / Q000453:epidemiology; D001900:Boston / Q000453:epidemiology; D002292:Carcinoma, Renal Cell / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D007680:Kidney Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009518:New York / Q000453:epidemiology; D015143:Philadelphia / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D000959:Antihypertensive Agents