Longer median overall survival for patients receiving any beta-blocker versus nonusers
MONDAY, Aug. 24, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Nonselective beta-blocker use is associated with improved overall survival among patients with epithelial ovarian, primary peritoneal, or fallopian tube cancers (collectively, epithelial ovarian cancer [EOC]), according to a study published online Aug. 24 in Cancer.
Jack L. Watkins, Pharm.D., from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, and colleagues examined the impact of beta-adrenergic blockade on the clinical outcome of women with EOC. They performed a multicenter review involving 1,425 women with histopathologically confirmed EOC (median age, 63 years).
The researchers found that of the 269 patients who received beta-blockers during chemotherapy, 71.7 percent were receiving beta-1-adrenergic receptor selective agents, while the rest received nonselective beta antagonists. Indications for beta-blocker use included hypertension as well as arrhythmia and postmyocardial infarction management. Median overall survival (OS) was 47.8 versus 42 months for those receiving any beta-blockers versus nonusers. The median OS was 94.9 versus 38 months for those receiving nonselective beta-blockers versus beta-1-adrenergic receptor selective agents. Across all groups, hypertension correlated with decreased OS versus no hypertension.
“Use of nonselective beta-blockers in patients with EOC was associated with longer OS,” the authors write. “These findings may have implications for new therapeutic approaches.”
One author disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.
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