Angiotensin-receptor blockers (ARBs), a class of medications used by millions worldwide to treat hypertension, may be linked to cancer, a study published today in Lancet Oncology claims. In an analysis of 60,000 patients, researchers found a 1 percent higher risk of getting cancer in people who took the drug compared to those who did not.
This is so inconsistent with scientific precepts, yet it s still getting publicity, laments ACSH s Dr. Gilbert Ross. What we have here is a study in which numerous ARB drugs among the most common and effective drugs for high blood pressure are alleged to cause numerous cancers with no biological hypothesis as to how this phenomenon occurs. An increased incidence of various types of cancers of 1.2 percent makes no sense from a cause-and-effect point of view.
ACSH s Dr. Elizabeth Whelan says unfounded studies such as this one foster needless fear. The last thing we want is for people to get off of their blood pressure medications because of this, she says.
Stier adds, It s important to remind people that cancer is not one disease and the causes vary, so to suggest various cancers are due to one type of drug raises some questions.
