A new study in the journal Lancet Oncology suggests that one class of widely used blood pressure medications may slightly increase the risk of cancer, according to media reports.

A meta-analysis of publicly available data on angiotensin-receptor blockers or ARBs showed patients who took the drugs were 1.2 percent more likely to be diagnosed with a new cancer during a 4-year period than those who did not.

Dr. Ilke Sipahi from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland and colleagues found the association after they pooled all available data from randomized trials of ARBs released prior to November 2009.

The trials looked at only three blood pressure drugs including telmisartan, losartan, and candesartan.   Eighty six percent of the patients in the trials were using telmisartan (Micardis) made by German drugmaker Boehringer Ingelheim, according to Reuters.

Other drugs in the same class include Cozaar (losartan) made by Merck & Co's; Diovan (valsartan) made by Notartis, irbesartan (Avapro) marketed by Sanofi-Aventi and Bristol-Myers Squibb, Benicar (olmesartan) made by Daiichi Sankyo, and Teveten (erposartan) made by Solway Pharmaceuticals.

The researchers found those who used the drugs had a 7.2 percent risk of being diagnosed with a new cancer compared with 6 percent of those who did not. 

Specifically, 0.9 percent of patients on the blood pressure drugs were diagnosed with a new lung cancer compared with 0.7 percent of those in the control group.

"The increased risk of new cancer occurrence is modest but significant," Dr. Sipahi was quoted by Reuters as saying.

Boehringer Ingelheim defended Micardis saying that its own studies found no increased cancer risk associated with the drug. 

Still, one study, according to Reuters, showed there was a slight elevated risk in the study group when the drug was used in combination with common blood pressure drugs called ACE-inhibitors.

It appears that Boehringer Ingelheim  knowledges the potential risk. The company was cited as saying that its product label does not recommend that its drug be taken in combination with ACE-inhibitors.

Dr. Steven Nissen, a distinguished cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic, says in a commentary that the trials were not designed to look at the cancer risk meaning that the current study may not tell a true story about the cancer risk of the blood pressure drugs.

But he also says the findings are "disturbing and provocative, raising crucial drug safety questions for practitioners and the regulatory community."

High blood pressure affects about one of three adults in the United States. The condition is believed to be a precursor to heart disease and stroke, the first and third leading causes of death in the country.

Drugs are not the only treatments for high blood pressure. A modified diet may help patients manage their blood pressure.  The beneficial foods or diet including DASH diet, garlic, vitamin C, tea, garden peas and the detrimental factors are salt and fructose among other things.

JD