Adrenergic blockers and the risk for common solid cancers: a case-control study

Laboratory studies have suggested that adrenergic blockers may inhibit the proliferation and migration of cancer cells, but epidemiological evidence of their effect on cancer incidence has proven inconsistent. We therefore conducted a case-control study using the Clinical Practice Research Datalink...

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Main Authors: Numbere, Beade, Fleming, Kate M., Walker, Alex, Card, Timothy R.
Format: Article
Published: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins 2017
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/49399/
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author Numbere, Beade
Fleming, Kate M.
Walker, Alex
Card, Timothy R.
author_facet Numbere, Beade
Fleming, Kate M.
Walker, Alex
Card, Timothy R.
author_sort Numbere, Beade
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description Laboratory studies have suggested that adrenergic blockers may inhibit the proliferation and migration of cancer cells, but epidemiological evidence of their effect on cancer incidence has proven inconsistent. We therefore conducted a case-control study using the Clinical Practice Research Datalink to assess the effect of adrenergic blockers on the incidence of prostate, lung, bowel and breast cancers. From among patients aged 18 years or older who contributed at least 2 years of prospectively gathered data between 1 January 1987 and 31 December 2012, we selected incident cases of relevant cancers and controls, frequency matched 10 : 1 by age. Logistic regression was used to adjust effect estimates for age, sex, smoking, alcohol use, and a number of potentially confounding comorbidities and coprescriptions. A total of 18 968 colorectal, 19 082 lung, 21 608 prostate and 29 109 breast cancers were identified. We found no evidence of a protective effect of adrenergic blockade in lung and prostate cancers and found a slightly increased risk for colorectal and breast cancers in users. This was largely explained by the effects of confounding in multivariate analyses, with final odds ratio estimates for lung, colorectal, breast and prostate cancers of 0.99 [95% confidence interval (0.96-1.04)], 1.14 (1.09-1.18), 1.10 (1.06-1.14), and 1.01 (0.98-1.05), respectively, for beta-blocker exposure, and final odds ratio estimates for lung, colorectal and breast cancer of 1.03 (0.97-1.09), 1.13 (1.07-1.20), and 1.08 (1.00-1.17), respectively, for alpha-blocker exposure. We found no evidence to suggest that adrenergic blocker use prevents common cancers. Indeed, we found a slightly increased risk for colorectal and breast cancers, which may reflect
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spelling nottingham-493992020-05-04T18:29:05Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/49399/ Adrenergic blockers and the risk for common solid cancers: a case-control study Numbere, Beade Fleming, Kate M. Walker, Alex Card, Timothy R. Laboratory studies have suggested that adrenergic blockers may inhibit the proliferation and migration of cancer cells, but epidemiological evidence of their effect on cancer incidence has proven inconsistent. We therefore conducted a case-control study using the Clinical Practice Research Datalink to assess the effect of adrenergic blockers on the incidence of prostate, lung, bowel and breast cancers. From among patients aged 18 years or older who contributed at least 2 years of prospectively gathered data between 1 January 1987 and 31 December 2012, we selected incident cases of relevant cancers and controls, frequency matched 10 : 1 by age. Logistic regression was used to adjust effect estimates for age, sex, smoking, alcohol use, and a number of potentially confounding comorbidities and coprescriptions. A total of 18 968 colorectal, 19 082 lung, 21 608 prostate and 29 109 breast cancers were identified. We found no evidence of a protective effect of adrenergic blockade in lung and prostate cancers and found a slightly increased risk for colorectal and breast cancers in users. This was largely explained by the effects of confounding in multivariate analyses, with final odds ratio estimates for lung, colorectal, breast and prostate cancers of 0.99 [95% confidence interval (0.96-1.04)], 1.14 (1.09-1.18), 1.10 (1.06-1.14), and 1.01 (0.98-1.05), respectively, for beta-blocker exposure, and final odds ratio estimates for lung, colorectal and breast cancer of 1.03 (0.97-1.09), 1.13 (1.07-1.20), and 1.08 (1.00-1.17), respectively, for alpha-blocker exposure. We found no evidence to suggest that adrenergic blocker use prevents common cancers. Indeed, we found a slightly increased risk for colorectal and breast cancers, which may reflect Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins 2017-01-31 Article PeerReviewed Numbere, Beade, Fleming, Kate M., Walker, Alex and Card, Timothy R. (2017) Adrenergic blockers and the risk for common solid cancers: a case-control study. European Journal of Cancer Prevention, 26 (1). pp. 86-93. ISSN 1473-5709 adrenergic blockers breast cancer Clinical Practice Research Datalink colorectal cancer lung cancer prostate cancer https://journals.lww.com/eurjcancerprev/Abstract/2017/01000/Adrenergic_blockers_and_the_risk_for_common_solid.11.aspx doi:10.1097/cej.0000000000000218 doi:10.1097/cej.0000000000000218
spellingShingle adrenergic blockers
breast cancer
Clinical Practice Research Datalink
colorectal cancer
lung cancer
prostate cancer
Numbere, Beade
Fleming, Kate M.
Walker, Alex
Card, Timothy R.
Adrenergic blockers and the risk for common solid cancers: a case-control study
title Adrenergic blockers and the risk for common solid cancers: a case-control study
title_full Adrenergic blockers and the risk for common solid cancers: a case-control study
title_fullStr Adrenergic blockers and the risk for common solid cancers: a case-control study
title_full_unstemmed Adrenergic blockers and the risk for common solid cancers: a case-control study
title_short Adrenergic blockers and the risk for common solid cancers: a case-control study
title_sort adrenergic blockers and the risk for common solid cancers: a case-control study
topic adrenergic blockers
breast cancer
Clinical Practice Research Datalink
colorectal cancer
lung cancer
prostate cancer
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/49399/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/49399/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/49399/