Antihypertensive drugs and prostate cancer survival after radical prostatectomy in Finland- A nationwide cohort study. - PubMed - NCBI

[cbgjr]

My cardiologist found this very interesting and switched me from Atenolol to Losartan, right away.

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/301...

who knows... it could help a little.

CG

[Tall_Allen]

Or it could hurt...

Next door in Norway, this registry study came to the opposite conclusion "β-Blocker use was associated with reduced PCa-specific mortality in patients with high-risk or metastatic disease at the time of diagnosis."

europeanurology.com/article...

As did this meta-analysis: "These findings indicate that beta-blocker use was associated with reduced cancer-specific mortality among prostate cancer patients taking beta-blockers."

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

If you send those links to your cardiologist, I would love to hear his reaction.

[cbgjr in reply to Tall_Allen]

hmmm... the newer study (2019) is specific to cancer patients who had prostatectomies. The older studies (2014 and 2015) did not differentiate.

Also, in the older studies, I think no comparisons were made between other BP drugs and beta-blockers.

It's hard to make sense and valid comparisons when there are large gaps in the information .

Does one go by the most recent findings? Have there been improvements in statistical analysis techniques and tools in the last 5 years? Not to mention more general knowledge and available data on the subject matter?

CG

[Tall_Allen in reply to cbgjr]

No - nothing that would have an effect has changed in the last 5 years. You said he switched you off of atenolol, which is a beta blocker, which was exactly what was found to be associated with a benefit in these two studies.

The reason why your cardiologist should not change practice based on the Finnish study (or any of these) is because even the meta-analysis (which is the strongest evidence of the 3) is retrospective and carries a large risk of bias. Retrospective studies, especially when no attempt is made at simulating randomization, are only useful in generating hypotheses. There are many unmeasured and confounding variables that registries cannot provide.

[j-o-h-n]

My doctor took me off Losartan....

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Friday 07/05/2019 6:53 PM DST

[cbgjr in reply to j-o-h-n]

hey j-o-h-n,

could you tell me what was the reason for taking you off Losartan?

CG

[j-o-h-n in reply to cbgjr]

The way my wife tells me,,, (cause I forgot) my cardiologist took me off because of it's interaction with Pca... (I can't ever believe my wife... she lies all the time, she told me I was ugly)...

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Sunday 07/07/2019 6:03 PM DST

[Ralph1966]

Be sure the patch is not listed as carcinogenic containg brand. Check FDA website for recalled brands!