| The following article features coverage from the American Urological Association (AUA) 2019 meeting. Click here to read more of Renal & Urology News’ conference coverage. |
CHICAGO—Intermediate- and high-risk prostate cancer (PCa) occurs less frequently among men who take the beta-blocker atenolol, data presented at the 2019 American Urological Association annual meeting suggest.
In a study of 4516 men who underwent an initial prostate biopsy, atenolol use was significantly associated with a 41% decreased risk of PCa overall and 41% and 55% decreased risk of intermediate- and high-risk PCa, respectively, compared with nonusers, after adjusting for age, PSA level, race, and other variables, lead investigator Ali Zahalka, MD, of Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, New York, reported. Atenolol use was not significantly associated with the incidence of low-risk PCa.
The investigators noted that pre-clinical models of PCa suggest that disruption of adrenergic signaling by beta-adrenergic receptor blockade inhibits PCa progression to more aggressive pathology.
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Of the 4516 men, 2388 (53%) had a negative biopsy and 2128 (47%) had a positive biopsy. Of those who had a positive biopsy, 837 (39%) had low-risk or very-low-risk PCa and 867 (41%) and 424 (20%) had intermediate- or high-risk PCa. A significantly higher proportion of patients with negative biopsies than positive biopsies used atenolol (4.5% vs 3.3%). Dr Zahalka’s team found no significant difference in biopsy findings among users of carvedilol, metoprolol, or other beta blockers.
Read more of Renal & Urology News’ coverage of the AUA 2019 meeting by visiting the conference page.
Reference
Zahalka A, Fram E, Lin W, et al. Atenolol reduces incident low and intermediate risk prostate cancer. Presented at the 2019 American Urological Society annual meeting held May 3-6 in Chicago. Abstract MP48-16.
