Blood Pressure Drugs Reduce Skin Cancer in High-Risk Test Group

Cancer researchers have found that two classes of drugs prescribed to lower blood pressure, angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs), reduced incidence of nonmelanoma skin cancer in a study group that was monitored for more than four years.

Previous studies have suggested that ACE inhibitors and ARBs slowed tumor growth by inhibiting angiogenesis in vitro and in animal studies. To study the effect of these drugs on development of skin cancer, investigators from Brown University (Providence, RI, USA) performed a cohort study on 1,051 veterans enrolled in the randomized US Department of Veterans Affairs Topical Tretinoin Chemoprevention (VATTC) Trial who were at increased risk of keratinocyte skin cancers, including basal cell carcinoma (BCC) or squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Study participants were examined every six months by a study dermatologist; biopsies were taken on all suspicious lesions and centrally reviewed.

Results published in the August 26, 2008, online issue of the Journal of the [UK] National Cancer Institute (JNCI) revealed that during a median follow-up of 3.4 years, 472 incident BCCs, 309 SCCs, and 200 deaths from any cause were observed. The group comprising subjects taking either an ACE inhibitor or an ARB had a 39% relative reduction in incidence of BCCs and a 33% relative reduction in SCCs compared with nonusers. The absolute incidence of the two cancers together was 237 per 1,000 person-years in the ACE inhibitor or ARB users and 374 per 1,000 among nonusers.

The researchers wrote that, "We were surprised to find such a pronounced reduction in [basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma] incidence in users of ACE inhibitors or ARBs in such a high-risk group over a short amount of time. Because individuals at normal risk of keratinocyte cancer were not included in our study, the extent to which the results might apply to such individuals is unknown.”

Related Links:
Brown University