title: Carvedilol use is associated with reduced cancer risk: A nationwide population-based cohort study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To investigate the effect of carvedilol on the incidence of cancer in a large population-based cohort study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were obtained from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. The cohort study included 6771 patients who received long-term carvedilol treatment between 2000 and 2010 (carvedilol cohort) and 6771 matched controls (noncarvedilol cohort). A Cox proportional hazards model was used to evaluate the risk of cancer in the patients treated with carvedilol.
  
  
  RESULTS
  With the mean follow-up period of 5.17 years and 4.93 years in the carvedilol and noncarvedilol cohorts, respectively, the patients in the carvedilol cohort had a 26% reduction of cancer risk compared with those in the noncarvedilol cohort (hazard ratio [HR]=0.74; 95% confidence interval [CI]=0.63-0.87; p<.001). The sex-specific carvedilol to noncarvedilol relative risk was lower for both women (HR=0.73; 95% CI=0.56-0.94) and men (HR=0.75; 95% CI=0.61-0.92). Moreover, stratified by cancer site, treatment with carvedilol in the carvedilol cohort resulted in significantly lower incidence of stomach and lung cancers than in the noncarvedilol cohort.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This nationwide population-based cohort study demonstrated that long-term treatment with carvedilol is associated with reduced upper gastrointestinal tract and lung cancer risk, indicating that carvedilol could be a potential agent in these cancers prevention.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chin-Sheng
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Wei-Shiang
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Management Office for Health Data, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan; College of Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Cheng-Li
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Clinical Medical Science and School of Medicine, College of Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan; Department of Nuclear Medicine and PET Center, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan. Electronic address: d10040@mail.cmuh.org.tw.
authors.forename: Chia-Hung
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Kao
mesh_terms: D000319:Adrenergic beta-Antagonists / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002227:Carbazoles / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000077261:Carvedilol; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011412:Propanolamines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000319:Adrenergic beta-Antagonists; D002227:Carbazoles; D011412:Propanolamines; D000077261:Carvedilol
keywords: Beta-blocker; Cancer; Carvedilol; Population-based cohort study; Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database