The results of the new study suggest that non-selective beta-blockers (drugs for the treatment of hypertension) may have anti-cancer properties.

This unexpected discovery in the journal Cancer was told by scientists from the Anderson Cancer Center in Texas.

"We were able to find that patients with ovarian cancer who take non-selective beta-blockers get a double benefit from such drugs. Early scientific work has already shown that stress hormones can play a role in the development of cancer. Although beta-blockers are prescribed for other indications, doctors know that these drugs change the body's response to stress, "writes Dr. Anil Sood.

In past years, some researchers have already admitted the possibility that non-selective beta-blockers are able to influence the survival of cancer patients. One curious laboratory test demonstrated that adrenaline increases the invasiveness of ovarian cancer cells, but this effect of epinephrine can be leveled with the beta-blocker propranolol. Nevertheless, many clinical studies have come up with contradictory results, which did not allow to continue work in this direction.

In the course of her last work, Dr. Sood's team analyzed 1425 women's case histories, which from 2000 to 2010 were treated for ovarian cancer in various US medical centers. Among them were 193 patients who took selective beta-1-adrenoblockers and 76 patients who took non-selective drugs of this group for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases.

The average survival rate of patients who did not receive beta-blockers was 42 months, and for patients who took beta-blockers of any type, it was 47.8 months. At the same time, women who were prescribed non-selective beta-blockers lived an average of 94.9 months after the diagnosis, but on selective drugs only 38.0 months, which is even less than in the comparison group.

The study authors say that patients with hypertension usually die earlier than patients with normal pressure. But even when they took into account this factor, the numbers remained stunning - 90 months on non-selective beta-blockers versus 42 in the comparison group.

"Previous studies have produced conflicting results. This can only be explained by the fact that our colleagues did not take into account the type of beta-blockers used. And, since selective drugs are very widely used today, the results were not very good. This is the first study in history, where we tried to take into account the difference, "- says Dr. Sood.

Scientists write that at present two more preclinical studies are underway to study the effectiveness of cancer chemotherapy in combination with different doses of propranolol, as well as parallel laboratory studies aimed at establishing the mechanism of action of beta-blockers and stress modulators on cancer cells. The results of these studies may, in the future, help to develop new, more effective regimens for the treatment of ovarian cancer and other cancers.

In an accompanying article, Dr. Kristen Bunch of the National Military Medical Center Walter Reed and Dr.

Christina Annunciate of the National Cancer Institute of the United States drew attention to the fact that beta-blockers, especially non-selective ones, cause a number of serious side effects, and this may prevent the wide application of this group of drugs in oncology.

As a safer alternative, Dr. Bunch offers new anti-stress programs that should have a similar effect on the patients, but without the serious side effects of beta-blockers. Previously, western medical publications have already reported negative effects of stress hormones on cancer patients.

medbe. en.

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