High pressure league voices objections In lung cancer and high blood pressure drugs related?

Benefits and Risks of ACE inhibitors

Recently, a study was published that found a possible association between common high blood pressure medication and the development of lung cancer, causing much uncertainty among high blood pressure patients. The ACE inhibitors contained in many blood pressure medicines are suspected to increase the risk of developing lung cancer. German heart experts comment on the study results and clarify the actual risk.

Professor Bernhard Krämer is CEO of the German High Pressure League. He examined the study from the journal "The BMJ" and commented on the validity of the study and the actual risks posed by drugs with ACE inhibitors. These are used especially against hypertension and heart failure.

Can high blood pressure medicines that contain ACE inhibitors actually cause lung cancer? German heart experts advise caution against premature conclusions. (Image: psdesign1 / fotolia.com)

ACE inhibitors cause lung cancer?

Researchers at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, have found in a recent study that widespread high blood pressure pills can lead to lung cancer if it contains the substance group of ACE inhibitors. The researchers came to the conclusion that patients taking such medicines are six percent more likely to develop lung cancer.

Do not jump to conclusions

"However, this is an observational study whose probative value is limited," write the specialists of the German high pressure league. They advise not to sell the medication without consulting the doctor. If necessary, patients should seek advice from their treating physician on the individual benefit and the risks of the medication. Hypertension therapy must be continued in any case. The doctor may also prescribe other antihypertensive drugs if the uncertainty about a potential cancer risk is too high.

The study is not very meaningful

As the experts of the German Hypertension League report, the study is an observational study that can only show associations. Although it shows that there may be a link between the ACE inhibitors and lung cancer, it does not prove it. For this a prospective randomized study has to be carried out in which all possible interferences are excluded.

Lung cancer has many triggers

According to the heart experts, lung cancer is a so-called multifactorial disease. This means that there are many different factors that can favor formation. These factors include smoking, pollutants in the air, exposure to carcinogenic substances such as asbestos, arsenic, chromium or nickel, as well as genetic predisposition. Overweight and excessive alcohol consumption can also increase the risk of getting cancer. In addition, increasing age and gender are a risk factor as more than twice as many men as women develop lung cancer.

Criticism of the study results

Looking more closely at the results of the study, there are some discrepancies among experts at the German Heart Foundation. For example, significantly more people with obesity were present in the group treated with ACE inhibitors. There was also a slightly higher proportion of smokers and people with alcohol problems in the ACE group. Furthermore, the average age in this group was almost three years higher than in the control group. "These differences may have influenced the outcome of the study and the higher lung cancer risk of patients treated with ACE inhibitors," say the experts.

This possible connection needs to be examined in more detail

"The weight of evidence in the present study is therefore rather low and the study authors themselves have called for further investigations," reports Professor Dr. med. Bernhard Krämer in a press release. ACE inhibitors have been shown in large randomized controlled trials to significantly reduce mortality from heart disease.

Expert advises: Do not arbitrarily drop blood pressure remedies

"We hope that the result will not cause cancer patients to stop the blood pressure medication without consulting their family doctor," the professor says. It could have serious consequences if patients simply omit the blood pressure medicines. If left untreated, high blood pressure can lead to strokes, heart attacks, kidney failure or dementia. This could happen much earlier than a possible cancer. (Vb)