title: β-Adrenergic Receptors : New Target in Breast Cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Preclinical studies have demonstrated that β-adrenergic receptor antagonists could improve the prognosis of breast cancer. However, the conclusions of clinical and pharmacoepidemiological studies have been inconsistent. This review was conducted to re-assess the relationship between beta-adrenoceptor blockers and breast cancer prognosis.
  
  
  METHODS
  The literature was searched from PubMed, EMBASE and Web of Nature (Thompson Reuters) databases through using key terms, such as breast cancer and beta- adrenoceptor blockers.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Ten publications met the inclusion criteria. Six suggested that receiving beta- adrenoceptor blockers reduced the risk of breast cancer-specific mortality, and three of them had statistical significance (hazard ratio (HR)=0.42; 95% CI=0.18-0.97; p=0.042). Two studies reported that risk of recurrence and distant metastasis (DM) were both significantly reduced. One study demonstrated that the risk of relapse- free survival (RFS) was raised significantly with beta-blockers (BBS) (HR= 0.30; 95% CI=0.10-0.87; p=0.027). One reported longer disease-free interval (Log Rank (LR)=6.658; p=0.011) in BBS users, but there was no significant association between overall survival (OS) and BBS (HR= 0.35; 95% CI=0.12-1.0; p=0.05) in five studies.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Through careful consideration, it is suggested that beta-adrenoceptor blockers use may be associated with improved prognosis in breast cancer patients. Nevertheless, larger size studies are needed to further explore the relationship between beta-blocker drug use and breast cancer prognosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medical Oncology, Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital, Heilongjiang Province, China E-mail : cxs1978@ems.hrbmu.edu.cn; caili@ems.hrbmu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Hai-Ling
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Qing-Wei
authors.initials: QW
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.forename: Xue-Song
authors.initials: XS
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000319:Adrenergic beta-Antagonists / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000818:Animals; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011943:Receptors, Adrenergic, beta / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D000319:Adrenergic beta-Antagonists; D011943:Receptors, Adrenergic, beta