Inverse Association between Prostate Cancer and the Use of Calcium Channel Blockers

Abstract

Calcium channel blockers block calcium signal-mediated apoptosis. It is hypothesized that the use of these drugs may be associated with the development of cancer. This study investigated the association between daily use of calcium channel blockers and prostate cancer in a community-based cohort of men who participated in a longitudinal study of lower urinary tract symptoms. Study subjects were men ages 40 to 79 years by January 1, 1990, and were randomly selected from Olmsted County in Minnesota. At baseline, participants underwent an interview to determine all medications taken on a daily basis, including calcium channel blockers and to elicit a family history of prostate cancer. During followup, all men with a histological diagnosis of prostate cancer were identified through patient self-report and by a review of the complete medical record. Over 12,668 person years of follow-up, 15 (6.8%) of 220 calcium channel blocker users and 120 (10.5%) of 1142 nonusers developed prostate cancer (P ‫؍‬ 0.09; odds ratio, 0.62; 95% confidence interval, 0.36 -1.10). With adjustment for age and family history of prostate cancer, the risk (odds ratio, 95% confidence interval) of prostate cancer was 0.55 (0.31-0.97) in calcium channel blocker users compared with nonusers. In analyses stratified by family history of prostate cancer, the risk of prostate cancer was 0.45 (0.23-0.88) in men without a family history and 2.64 (0.82-8.47) in men with a family history of prostate cancer (P ‫؍‬ 0.006). These findings suggest an association between prostate cancer and daily use of calcium channel blockers that varies by family history of prostate cancer.

Use of blood-pressure-lowering medication and risk of prostate cancer in the Cancer Prevention Study II Nutrition Cohort

“…Our findings of no association between BBs and prostate cancer are consistent with that seen in four [3][4][5]14] of six epidemiological studies [3][4][5][12][13][14]. In our study, use of BBs was associated with a statistically significant lower risk of prostate cancer in the age-race adjusted model, but the association was attenuated and not statistically significant in the multivariate model mainly due to adjustment by history of heart disease.…”

“…Several classes of drugs are commonly used individually or in combination as pharmacological treatment to prevent cardiovascular complications, including diuretics, beta-blockers (BBs), calcium channel blockers (CCBs), angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, and angiotensin II-receptor blockers. Eleven epidemiological studies have examined the association between anti-hypertensive treatment and risk of prostate cancer [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. Results have been inconsistent for each class of anti-hypertensive drugs, but most of the studies had limited statistical power [4][5][6][7]10] or were unable to control for other prostate cancer risk factors [9].…”

Effect of total-body prehabilitation on postoperative outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…However, the study with the lowest risk of bias found no difference in LOS between the intervention and control participants. Consequently, while a reduction in prehabilitation-related reduction in LOS would be an important clinical finding given its positive association with re-admission rates, poor functional status and mortality, and negative association with healthcare costs [37,38], it is concluded that the overall evidence related to this outcome is equivocal. It is worth noting, however, that in the studies that observed reduced LOS [13,20,22], prehabilitation participants had better physical function and recovery [20], HRQOL [13] and peri-operative complications [22].…”

Diltiazem Enhances the Apoptotic Effects of Proteasome Inhibitors to Induce Prostate Cancer Cell Death

“…Less clear is the effect of calcium channel blockers in cancer, particularly prostate cancer. Thus, whereas some investigators report that the use of calcium channel blockers is inversely associated with prostate cancer (Debes et al, 2004), others have failed to find such a relationship (Rodriguez et al, 2009). Thus, it is of interest to investigate the potential effectiveness of these drugs in prostate cancer therapy, especially because both cardiovascular problems and prostate cancer are common in elderly men (Yoshinaga et al, 2006).…”