Use of β-Blockers, Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors, Angiotensin II Receptor Blockers, and Risk of Breast Cancer Recurrence: A Danish Nationwide Prospective Cohort Study

Purpose To estimate associations between use of beta-blockers, angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) and breast cancer recurrence in a large Danish cohort. Patients and Methods We enrolled 18,733 women diagnosed with nonmetastatic breast cancer between 1996 and 2003. Patient, treatment, and 10-year recurrence data were ascertained from the Danish Breast Cancer Cooperative Group registry. Prescription and medical histories were ascertained by linkage to the National Prescription Registry and Registry of Patients, respectively. beta-Blocker exposure was defined in aggregate and according to solubility, receptor selectivity, and individual drugs. ACE inhibitor and ARB exposures were defined in aggregate. Recurrence associations were estimated with multivariable Cox regression models in which time-varying drug exposures were lagged by 1 year. Results Compared with never users, users of any beta-blocker had a lower recurrence hazard in unadjusted models (unadjusted hazard ratio [HR] = 0.91; 95% CI, 0.81 to 1.0) and a slightly higher recurrence hazard in adjusted models (adjusted HR = 1.3; 95% CI, 1.1 to 1.5). Associations were similar for exposures defined by receptor selectivity and solubility. Although most individual beta-blockers showed no association with recurrence, metoprolol and sotalol were associated with increased recurrence rates (adjusted metoprolol HR = 1.5, 95% CI, 1.2 to 1.8; adjusted sotalol HR = 2.0, 95% CI, 0.99 to 4.0). ACE inhibitors were associated with a slightly increased recurrence hazard, whereas ARBs were not associated with recurrence (adjusted ACE inhibitor HR = 1.2, 95% CI, 0.97 to 1.4; adjusted ARBs HR = 1.1, 95% CI, 0.85 to 1.3). Conclusion Our data do not support the hypothesis that beta-blockers attenuate breast cancer recurrence risk. (C) 2013 by American Society of Clinical Oncology