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

Antihypertensive (anti-HT) drugs targeting renin-angiotensin-aldosterone (RAA)- system have been associated with improved prostate cancer (PCa)-specific survival. Challenge is that often multiple drugs are used simultaneously. We evaluated the association between use of anti-HT drugs and PCa survival among 14,422 surgically treated Finnish PCa patients. Information on drug purchases was obtained from a national prescription database. We used Cox regression to calculate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) for risk of PCa death and initiation of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) with adjustment for age, tumor extent, use of statins and for Charlson Comorbidity Index. Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE)- inhibitors, angiotensin- receptor (ATR)-blockers, diuretics, calcium-channel blockers, beta-blockers and other anti-HT drugs were analyzed as separate time-dependent variables to model simultaneous use. Overall anti-HT drugs were associated with an increased risk of PCa death. Conversely use of ATR-blockers was associated with decreased risk of PCa death (HR: 0.43, 95% CI: 0.26-0.72 and HR: 0.60, 95% CI 0.37-0.97 for pre- and post-diagnostic use). Similar risk decrease was not observed in other drug groups. Anti-HT drugs were also associated with an increased risk of starting ADT, with the exception of ATR-blockers (HR: 0.81 CI:0.71-0.92). ATR- blockers differ from other anti-HT drugs as the survival is better in users of this drug group. The result partly supports the role of RAA system in PCa progression. Nevertheless, the risk decrease was not observed in ACE-inhibitor users. Further research is needed to elucidate the molecular mechanism for the potential anticancer effect of ATR- blockers.