Reactions 749 - 1 May 1999

Diltiazem/nifedipine: no significantincreased cancer risk

Short-acting diltiazem therapy in post myocardialinfarction (MI) patients was not associated with anyincreased risk of cancer in a Japanese study. Theincidence of cancer in post MI patients treated withshort-acting nifedipine was slightly higher comparedwith patients who did not receive calcium antagonisttherapy. However, this difference was not statisticallysignificant (odds ratio 1.34; 95% CI 0.63–2.85).

The study involved patients who had experienced anMI and were treated with short-acting nifedipine 30mg/day (425 patients; mean age 61.3 years) short-actingdiltiazem 90 mg/day (141; 58.9) or no calciumantagonist therapy (488; 59.3; controls). The mean timeperiod between the onset of MI and study enrolmentwas 16 months and the mean observation periodfollowing enrolment in the study was 26.3 months.

During the study period, 31 patients (2.9%) werefound to have newly developed cancers. Of these 31patients, 15 (3.5%) were in the nifedipine group, 3(2.1%) were in the diltiazem group and 13 (2.7%) werein the control group. The researchers point out that therelatively short follow-up period in their study may limitthe ability to detect the potential increased risk ofcancer. They point out that, at this time, results fromboth clinical and basic research regarding therelationship between calcium antagonist therapy andcancer remains inconclusive. Therefore, they emphasizethe need for further studies in this area.Kanamasa K, et al. Incidence of cancer in postmyocardial infarction patientstreated with short-acting nifedipine and diltiazem. Cancer 85: 1369-1374, 15 Mar1999 800752369

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Reactions 1 May 1999 No. 7490114-9954/10/0749-0001/$14.95 Adis © 2010 Springer International Publishing AG. All rights reserved