Regular BP medication doesn't heighten breast cancer risk in women

A new study has discovered that women who consume general blood pressure medication don't face increased of developing breast cancer.

The researchers at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Murray, Utah, analyzed the records of more than 3,700 women who had no history of breast cancer, and who had long-term use of calcium channel blocker medications to control their blood pressure.

Researchers found only a minimal increase in risk in one study and a 50 percent reduced risk in a second, leading them to recommend the continued use of these important medications to help prevent heart attack and stroke.

Calcium channel blockers are commonly used to help prevent calcium from entering cells of the heart and blood vessel walls, resulting in lower blood pressure. Jeffery L. Anderson, MD, who led the study, said that they didn't find any robust data that calcium channel blocker medications increase a person's risk of breast cancer.

The study carefully examined data collected from more than 3,700 women ages 50 to 70 with no history of breast cancer in two Intermountain Healthcare databases. For each group, researchers had compared women who were prescribed calcium channel blocker medications to similar women who weren't prescribed the medications.

In their review of a general population medical records database, it was found that the odds of breast cancer to be 1.6 times higher by using calcium channel blockers, which was significant, but much smaller than reported by the Seattle group.

But, in contrast, in the data collected from patients treated in the Intermountain Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory, a reverse relationship was found, a 50 percent reduction in risk of developing breast cancer for women who took the calcium channel blockers.

The contrasting results found in these two independent analyses led researchers at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute to conclude that it is likely not the medication that caused the changes in breast cancer risk but other factors.

The findings will be presented at the 2014 American Heart Association Scientific in Chicago.