Long-Term Use of Medications Against Blood Pressure May Increase Risk of Breast Cancer

A new study awarded an NHMRC Clinical Trials and Cohort Studies Grant will examine the association between the long-term use of calcium channel blockers and the danger of breast cancer by investigating three internationally acclaimed Australian and Dutch longitudinal cohorts that use state-of-the-art analytical approaches, which have not been applied in this area in the past.

A News-Medical.net report specified that researchers at Curtin University would investigate if the long-term use of a famous popular blood pressure drug increased the risk of breast cancer in nearly 200,000 women as part of a new project backed by the Federal Government.

According to the Curtin School of Population Health's Rachael Moorin, the study's lead researcher, the link between calcium channel blockers, used widely as a first-line treatment for high blood pressure and breast cancer in Australia, was hotly argued with mixed studies across the globe.

She added the research, which would take approximately three years to complete, had potentially substantial implications for Australian women.

Breast Cancer and Cardiovascular Disease

The lead researcher also explained that with an estimated 48 women diagnosed every day, breast cancer was the most typically diagnosed in Australia in 2019 and most common in women, with one in every seven female Australians diagnosed with breast cancer by the age of 85.

The number of breast cancer cases increased, with more than 19,500 new cases diagnosed in Australia in 2019, a 19-percent increase compared with 2012.

Essentially, breast cancer is second only to lung cancer as the most common cause of death from cancer in Australian women.

Moorin also explained that many women would have the cardiovascular disease too, like high blood pressure or hypertension, which occurs in roughly 30 percent of women whose age ranges from 45 to 54 years old, rising to approximately 45 percent in people aged 75 years and above.

In this Curtin University study, researchers will analyze the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health, the "45 and Up Study" data from the Department of Human Services database, and The Rotterdam Study from The Netherlands.

Moreover, the NHMRC Clinical Trials and Cohort Studies Grants back high-quality clinical tests and cohort research that address significant gaps in knowledge, resulting in appropriate and implementable outcomes for the benefit of human health.

Breast Cancer in Australia

A 2021 report from the National Breast Cancer Foundation specified that breast cancer is Australia's most typically diagnosed cancer.

Roughly 55 percent of Australians are diagnosed each and daily. The figure correlates to more than 20,000 Australians diagnosed with breast cancer every year.

Last year, more than 3,100 Australians died from breast cancer, comprising 36 males and 3,102 females. Seventy-nine women were approximately to die from the disease in the same year.

That's equivalent to nine Australians dying from the said cancer type each day. In the last decade, breast cancer diagnoses have increased by 36 percent.

Since the National Breast Cancer Foundation started funding during the early 1990s, the five-year survival rates have improved from 76 percent to 91 percent.

Related information between breast cancer and other illnesses is shown on CBS Boston's YouTube video below:

Check out more news and information on Cancer and Heart Health in Science Times.