Widely used drugs for high blood pressure have been linked to an increased risk of lung cancer.
Certain drugs prescribed for high blood pressure are linked to an increased risk of lung cancer, according to a new study from the BMJ.
Specifically, it is the use of “angiotensin converting enzyme (ACEI) inhibitors” to lower blood pressure that has been linked to an increased risk of lung cancer, compared to the use another group of medicines for high blood pressure called ‘angiotensin receptor antagonists (ARBs)’.
The duration of consumption increases the risk
The risk is particularly high in people who have been using ACEIs for more than five years, the researchers said. It is the accumulation of chemicals called “bradykinin” in the lungs that would be to blame.
To reach these conclusions, nearly one million patients were followed between 1995 and 2015. During this period, 7,952 cases of lung cancer were identified. The associations were evident after five years of use and increased with increasing duration of use, particularly in patients who had used ACEIs for more than 10 years (31% increased risk).
A large absolute number of patients at risk
Although the risk is small, the researchers point out that ACEIs are one of the most prescribed drug classes, “so these small relative effects could translate into a large absolute number of patients at risk.” “Further studies with long-term follow-up are now needed to improve the scientific evidence on the long-term safety of these drugs,” they add.
Today, high blood pressure (HTA) affects 15 million people in France, or nearly one in three adults. According to the Esteban study recently published by Public Health France, 36% of adult men are now hypertensive, compared to 25% of women. 60% of people over the age of 65 suffer from this pathology; figures that climb to 80% among those over 80 years old.
Lung cancer is the deadliest in men (ahead of colorectal cancer and prostate cancer) and the second deadliest in women (after breast cancer and before colorectal cancer).
.
