Blood pressure medications may increase breast cancer risk for older women
A preliminary study has found that some drugs used to lower blood pressure may double the risk of breast cancer in older women. The researchers studied 3,198 postmenopausal women between the ages of 65 and 100. A higher risk of breast cancer was observed among women taking a common class of blood-pressure lowering drugs called calcium channel blockers, or CCBs. Common types of CCBs include verapamil, diltiazem, nifedipine, and nonnifedipine dihydropyridines.The researchers speculate that CCBs may encourage tumor growth and interfere with biological defenses designed to fend off invasion by cancer cells. Specifically, calcium appears to block a type of cellular "suicide" called apoptosis, which is the body's natural defense mechanism against tumor growth. Women who were taking postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy with estrogen in addition to calcium channel blockers appeared to be at greatest risk.
(Reuters, Oct. 15, 1997, from a study published in the journal Cancer 1997;80:1435-1447)
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