The worrying link between blood pressure medication and lung cancer
A new study has found that popular blood pressure pills taken by millions over the world could increase the risk of lung cancer.
The research has shone a spotlight on how ACE inhibitors are more likely to develop cancer than other types of drugs.
The study, conducted by researchers at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, said the risk of the medication increased the longer patients were taking it.
Those taking the drug for five years were 22 per cent more likely to get lung cancer, while those who had been on it for 10 years were 31 per cent more likely.
Scientists believe the drug causes the accumulation of chemicals called bradykinin on the lung, which can cause cancer.
However, other experts have cast doubt on the shock findings, saying that the lung cancer could instead be caused by patients smoking at the same time as the drugs.
Up to five million patients in the UK take ACE inhibitors, with most patients being prescribed the medication for high blood pressure or following a heart attack.
It is branded as Tritace in the UK but sold as Altace in the US.
Other common names for the drug include captopril, cilazapril, ramipril and enalapril.
The medication works by reducing the activity of the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE).
After this enzyme is blocked, the blood vessels relax and widen, thus lowering the blood pressure.
The study was published in the BMJ and analysed data from 992,000 adults who were prescribed blood pressure drugs in the UK between 1995 and 2015.
Patients were either taking ACE inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers, which lower blood pressure in a different way.
Compared to patients on angiotensin, those on ACE inhibitors were 14 per cent more likely to be diagnosed with lung cancer over a six-year period.
The researchers have called for “additional studies, with long term follow-up, to investigate the effects of these drugs on incidence of lung cancer”.
Although a 14 per cent increased risk might not appear to be much, “small relative effects could translate into large absolute numbers of patients at risk for lung cancer”.
The researchers added: “Given the potential impact of our findings, they need to be replicated in other settings, particularly among patients exposed for longer durations.”
However, Professor Stephen Evans, an expert on the effects of drugs at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said it was unlikely the drugs were causing lung cancer.
“Drawing strong conclusions and talking about public health impact in this situation seems premature,” he said.
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