Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors help lower your blood pressure by relaxing your veins and arteries. Recent evidence suggests that the use of ACE inhibitors may increase the risk of lung cancer. This study aims to compare the use of ACE inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers, and the associated increased risk of lung cancer.
This is a population-based cohort study that included a cohort of 992,061 patients newly treated with antihypertensive drugs: ACE inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers. The primary outcome of the study was the hazard ratio of incident lung cancer associated with the use of ACE inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers.
At a mean follow up of 6.4 years, a total of 7,952 incident lung cancers events were reported. The use of ACE inhibitors was associated with a higher risk of lung cancer (IR 1.6, HR 1.14), compared with the use of angiotensin receptor blockers. The hazard ratios increased with the duration of use, with significant elevations noticed after five years (HR 1.22) and ten years (1.31) of use.
The research concluded that the use of ACE inhibitors was associated with a higher risk of lung cancer than angiotensin receptor blockers and risk elevated in the case of prolonged use.
Ref: https://www.bmj.com/content/363/bmj.k4209
