Association between captopril, other antihypertensive drugs and risk of prostate cancer.
BACKGROUND
There has been some debate on the existence of an association between hypertension, antihypertensive medications and cancer risk.


METHODS
We performed a nested case-control study to assess the association between the risk of prostate cancer and the use of the angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE)-inhibitor captopril, and other antihypertensive drugs. We used data from the General Practice Research Database in UK.


RESULTS
We found an incidence rate of prostate cancer of 1.61 per 1,000 person-years among male patients aged 50-79 years old. Patients with a history of benign prostatic hyperplasia and/or prostatism carried a two-fold greater risk of prostate cancer than those without such antecedents. None of the other studied co-morbidities were associated with prostate cancer. We found that users of captopril had a relative risk of 0.7 (95% CI: 0.4-1.2) to develope prostate cancer. None of the other studied individual ACE-inhibitors shared a similar effect with the one observed for captopril.


CONCLUSIONS
No clear association was apparent between the use of antihypertensive drugs and prostate cancer. However, specific focus on users of captopril showed a lower risk of subsequent prostate cancer. Further research is needed to explore this association.
Ronquist
Gunnar
G
Department of Medical Sciences, Clinical Chemistry, University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden.
Rodríguez
Luis Alberto García
LA
Ruigómez
Ana
A
Johansson
Saga
S
Wallander
Mari-Ann
MA
Frithz
Göran
G
Svärdsudd
Kurt
K
D000317:Adrenergic alpha-Antagonists / Q000009:adverse effects; D000319:Adrenergic beta-Antagonists / Q000009:adverse effects; D000368:Aged; D000806:Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000009:adverse effects*; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / Q000009:adverse effects; D002121:Calcium Channel Blockers / Q000009:adverse effects; D002216:Captopril / Q000009:adverse effects*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004232:Diuretics / Q000009:adverse effects; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology
D000317:Adrenergic alpha-Antagonists; D000319:Adrenergic beta-Antagonists; D000806:Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; D002121:Calcium Channel Blockers; D004232:Diuretics; D002216:Captopril