META-ANALYSIS FINDS NO EXCESS RISK OF CANCER WITH ANY SINGLE ANTIHYPERTENSIVE DRUG

HeartWire (11/29, Nainggolan) reported that "a new meta-analysis of almost 325,000 individuals from 70 clinical trials has found no excess risk of cancer or cancer death with any single antihypertensive drug." These "results counter the conclusions of a review published earlier this summer...which indicated that angiotensin-receptor blockers (ARBs) were associated with a modest increased risk of developing cancer." But, "a statistically significant increase in cancers among patients taking an ARB in combination with an ACE inhibitor of roughly 10% means the authors 'cannot rule out' an increased risk of cancer with the combination of these two medications." The research is published in the Lancet Oncology.