Cancerworld Magazine
  • About the Magazine
    • Editorial Team
    • Leadership and Management
    • Events
    • Magazine
    • Archive
    • Contacts
  • Articles
    • Policy
    • Practice Points
    • Delivery of Care
    • Biology basic
    • Medicine
    • Featured
  • Contents
    • News
    • Editorials
    • Interviews to the Expert
    • In the Hot Seat
    • Profiles
    • Obituaries
    • Voices
    • Partnerships
    • Supported contents
  • Media Corner
    • Journalist Cancer Guide
    • Cancer Journalism Award
    • Cancer Journalist Grant
SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Cancerworld Magazine
Cancerworld Magazine
  • About the Magazine
    • Editorial Team
    • Leadership and Management
    • Events
    • Magazine
    • Archive
    • Contacts
  • Articles
    • Policy
    • Practice Points
    • Delivery of Care
    • Biology basic
    • Medicine
    • Featured
  • Contents
    • News
    • Editorials
    • Interviews to the Expert
    • In the Hot Seat
    • Profiles
    • Obituaries
    • Voices
    • Partnerships
    • Supported contents
  • Media Corner
    • Journalist Cancer Guide
    • Cancer Journalism Award
    • Cancer Journalist Grant
Cancerworld Magazine > News > Blood pressure drugs improve survival in colorectal cancer
  • News

Blood pressure drugs improve survival in colorectal cancer

  • 2 September 2021
  • Janet Fricker
Blood pressure drugs improve survival in colorectal cancer
Total
0
Shares
0
0
0
0
0

Common Blood pressure drugs may improve survival in colorectal cancer (CRC). The study, published in Cancer Medicine, (August issue), showed use of Angiotensin Converting Enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, beta blockers and thiazide diuretics were all associated with decreased cancer specific mortality. Furthermore, the investigators found associations between adherence to antihypertensive (AH) medications and cancer specific survival.

Hypertension represents one of the most significant comorbidities encountered by cancer patients, with a study suggesting new-onset hypertension occurs in around one third of cancer patients. Preclinical studies have led to suggestions that strategies normalizing tumour vasculature function and hypoxia in the tumour microenvironment might optimize different cancer treatments. One suggested scenario is high microvascular hydrostatic pressure combined with poor lymph drainage contributes to low blood flow through tumours leading to poor delivery of therapeutic agents and worse outcomes. Although high blood pressure is common among CRC patients, little research has been undertaken into effects of AH medications on outcomes.

In the current study, Rajesh Balkrishnan (University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA) and colleagues (from the University of Virginia Augusta [UVA] Cancer Center and Universidade de São Paulo Instituto do Câncer) undertook a retrospective analysis evaluating whether AH medications confer protective benefits in CRC. The team used the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End-Results (SEER) Medicare database to review outcomes of 13,982 patients aged 65 and older diagnosed with stage I-III colorectal cancer between January 2007 and December 2012. The association between AH drug use and cancer mortality was examined using the Cox proportional hazards regression model to produce hazard ratios (HRs). (HRs) and Part D prescription claims were used to evaluate adherence. Patients taking AH medications prior to diagnosis and those with Stage 0 (that have yet to be staged) and Stage IV (that have already metastasized) tumours were excluded from the analysis.

Results showed use of AH drugs were associated with decreased cancer-specific mortality (HR: 0.79, 95% CI: 0.75-0.83), with results for specific medications showing ACE inhibitors (HR: 0.84, 95% CI: 0.80-0.87), beta-blockers (HR: 0.87, 95% CI: 0.84-0.91) and thiazide diuretics (HR: 0.83, 95% CI: 0.80-0.87). However, no association with CRC mortality was found in the case of angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) (HR 0.96, 95% CI 0.89-1.03), Furthermore, the team showed a relationship between adherence to antihypertensive medications and cancer specific survival. At follow-up, patients in the <80% adherence group had a CRC survival of 74% compared with 83.6% in the group with ≥ 80% adherence (HR:0.94, 95% CI:0.90-0.98).

“It is possible that AH drugs can help achieve better outcomes on cancer patients by both … interfering with tumour microenvironment and vasculature and also controlling blood pressure, but more research is needed to assess these correlations and potential shared mechanisms,” write the authors.

It will be important, they add, to investigate mortality in other cancers, such as gastric and bladder cancer, and to examine other substances, such as metformin, for potential onco-protective associations.

In the discussion, the authors highlight the role of the angiotensin-receptor blocker losartan, which one study showed to be potentially antiangiogenic in the maximally tolerated dose. Currently, a phase II clinical trial is recruiting pancreatic cancer patients to assess the impact of combining chemoradiotherapy and losartan with nivolumab (immunotherapy) on survival and the proportion of patients with R0 resection (defined as microscopically margin negative resection). Recently, a Norwegian study published in Acta Oncologica (online 2 August) found an indication in pancreatic cancer patients  for lower mortality in statin and non-selective beta-blocker users.

Professor Andrew Tinker, Head of the Centre for Clinical Pharmacology at Queen Mary University of London, UK, commented, “It was particularly interesting to see the different effects of ACE inhibitors and ARBs on CRC mortality. This may be because ACE inhibitors have a known broader influence on cellular pharmacology; while ARBs act preferentially at the angiotensin receptor.”

Total
0
Shares
Share 0
Tweet 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0
Related Topics
  • Angiotensin Converting Enzyme (ACE) inhibitor
  • Angiotensin Receptor Blockers (ARBs)
  • Antihypertensive
  • beta blocker
  • Colorectal cancer
  • Hypertension
  • Thiazide Diuretic
  • Tumour Microenvironment
Janet Fricker

Janet Fricker is a medical writer specialising in oncology and cardiology. After researching articles for Cancerworld she runs, swims, and eats porridge.

Previous Article
  • Obituaries

Louis Denis: one of urology’s most influential and patient-facing physicians

  • 30 August 2021
  • Simon Crompton
View Post
Next Article
  • News

Careers of women in oncology hit by Covid-19 pandemic

  • 2 September 2021
  • Swagata Yadavar
View Post
You May Also Like
View Post
  • News

Improving outcomes in elderly patients taking multiple medications

  • Janet Fricker
  • 24 March 2023
View Post
  • News

Localised prostate cancer: active monitoring offers valid option

  • Janet Fricker
  • 24 March 2023
View Post
  • News

Radiotherapy can be safely omitted in older women with low-risk breast cancer

  • Janet Fricker
  • 10 March 2023
View Post
  • News

Plant-based diets cut risk of prostate cancer progression and recurrence by over 50%

  • Janet Fricker
  • 9 March 2023
A blood test to recognize prostate cancer
View Post
  • News

New prostate cancer blood test combining PSA with epigenetic test could reduce biopsies

  • Janet Fricker
  • 23 February 2023
View Post
  • News

Telomere shortening mediates tumour suppression

  • Janet Fricker
  • 23 February 2023
View Post
  • News

Epidemiological study sheds light on complex link between ovarian cancer and ovulation

  • Janet Fricker
  • 9 February 2023
View Post
  • News

Cancer could overtake cardiovascular disease as leading cause of death in type 2 diabetes

  • Janet Fricker
  • 9 February 2023

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

search
or search in Cancerworld archive
Newsletter

Subscribe free to
Cancerworld!

We'll keep you informed of the latest features and news with a fortnightly email

Subscribe now
Latest News
  • Improving outcomes in elderly patients taking multiple medications
    • 24 March 2023
  • Localised prostate cancer: active monitoring offers valid option
    • 24 March 2023
  • Radiotherapy can be safely omitted in older women with low-risk breast cancer
    • 10 March 2023
  • Plant-based diets cut risk of prostate cancer progression and recurrence by over 50%
    • 9 March 2023
  • A blood test to recognize prostate cancer
    New prostate cancer blood test combining PSA with epigenetic test could reduce biopsies
    • 23 February 2023
Article
  • ‘Fragile’ cancer patients hit by Turkish earthquake need urgent support
    • 22 March 2023
  • Expert cancer surgery: could VR help speed up and standardise training?
    • 22 March 2023
  • Immunotherapy: three studies point to potential strategies to improve response
    • 10 March 2023
Latest printed issue
Social

Would you follow us ?

Contents
  • AI in Surgery
    • 8 March 2023
  • COVID and haematological malignancies
    • 28 February 2023
  • Telemedicine Rehabilitation in the Cancer Care Continuum
    • 24 February 2023
MENU
  • About the Magazine
    • Editorial Team
    • Leadership and Management
    • Events
    • Magazine
    • Archive
    • Contacts
  • Articles
    • Policy
    • Practice Points
    • Delivery of Care
    • Biology basic
    • Medicine
    • Featured
  • Contents
    • News
    • Editorials
    • Interviews to the Expert
    • In the Hot Seat
    • Profiles
    • Obituaries
    • Voices
    • Partnerships
    • Supported contents
  • Media Corner
    • Journalist Cancer Guide
    • Cancer Journalism Award
    • Cancer Journalist Grant
Cancerworld Magazine
  • About the Magazine
  • Articles
  • Media Corner
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy

Cancerworld is published by SPCC Sharing Progress in Cancer Care | Via Vincenzo Vela 6, 6500 Bellinzona - Switzerland | info@spcc.net

Archivio Cancerworld

Input your search keywords and press Enter.