Alza, Pfizer other research news

Researchers from the Catholic University (Rome, Italy) and colleagues reported that use of short-acting calcium channel blockers to treat hypertension may increase the risk of cancer.

They studied 750 hypertensive patients aged ³71 years with no history of cancer at baseline. Patients were followed from 1988 through 1992. There were 28 cancers in 424 patients taking beta-blockers, 6 cancers in 124 patients using ACE inhibitors, and 27 cancers in 202 patients on short-acting calcium channel blockers, as published in the American Journal of Hypertension. ...