Blood Pressure Drugs May be Linked to Breast Cancer Risk

A new study found that women taking a common type of blood pressure drug over the last decade may be at a higher risk for breast cancer.

Researchers found that close to 98 million prescriptions were filled for calcium channel blockers in the U.S. back in 2010, and many take them for the rest of their lives.

These drugs can include things such as amlodipine, and are marketed as Norvasc and nicardipine, called Cardene.

In a study of over 905 women ages 55 to 74 who had been diagnosed with ductal breast cancer, ductal and lobular, which is determined by whether the cancer begins in a milk duct or milk-producing gland. This was between 2000 and 2008, during which 1,055 women were diagnosed with lobular breast cancer and 891 women without cancer who served as a comparison group.

Researchers found that close to 40 percent of participants in each group took medication for high blood pressure.

Current users of the calcium channel blockers included 85 women with ductal breast cancer, 91 with lobular breast cancer and 70 without cancer.

Twenty-five women with ducal breast cancer and 26 with lobular breast cancer had been using the drugs for over 10 years or longer, compared to 11 cancer-free women.

Yet researchers found that no other hypertension drugs were tied to a cancer risk.

More information regarding the study can be found in JAMA Internal Medicine.