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Sotalol, but not digoxin is associated with decreased prostate cancer risk: A population‐based case–control study
Author(s) -
Kaapu Kalle J.,
Ahti Janne,
Tammela Teuvo L. J.,
Auvinen Anssi,
Murtola Teemu J.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
international journal of cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.475
H-Index - 234
eISSN - 1097-0215
pISSN - 0020-7136
DOI - 10.1002/ijc.29470
Subject(s) - medicine , prostate cancer , sotalol , odds ratio , population , case control study , cancer , digoxin , prostate , confidence interval , oncology , heart failure , atrial fibrillation , environmental health
Antiarrhythmic drug digoxin has been reported to have apoptosis‐inducing and cytotoxic effects on prostate cancer cells. We evaluated the association between antiarrhythmic drug use and prostate cancer risk in a population‐based case–control study. The study included all new prostate cancer cases diagnosed in Finland during 1995‐2002 and matched controls (24,657 case–control pairs) obtained from the Finnish Cancer Registry and the Population Register Center, respectively. Information on antiarrhythmic drug purchases was obtained from national prescription database. Multivariable‐adjusted conditional logistic regression model was used for data analysis. Compared to never‐users of antiarrhythmic drugs, we found no significant association between digoxin use and prostate cancer risk overall [odds ratio (OR) 0.95, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.89–1.01] or for advanced prostate cancer risk (OR: 0.90, 95% CI: 0.77–1.05). The result was similar also for other antiarrhythmic drugs, with the exception of sotalol, users of which had decreased risk of advanced prostate cancer (OR: 0.73, 95% CI: 0.56–0.96). Also the overall prostate cancer risk decreased by duration of sotalol use ( p for trend 0.038). We show that digoxin or other common antiarrhythmic drugs generally do not associate with prostate cancer risk at population level during maximum follow‐up of eight years. However, we cannot rule out longer term protective effects of digoxin. K + ‐channel blocker sotalol shows some promise as prostate cancer preventing agent. However, findings need to be confirmed in further studies.