Abstract
Background: Beta-adrenergic signalling plays an important role in several cancer-related processes, including angiogenesis. The impact of beta-blocker use on prognosis of cancer patients treated with antiangiogenic agents is unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between the incidental use of beta-blockers and the outcomes of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) treated with bevacizumab-based therapy. Methods: Clinical data from 514 mCRC patients treated with bevacizumab between 2005 and 2019 were analysed retrospectively. The association of progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) with the incidental use of beta-blockers and other common antihypertensive drugs was assessed. Results: The median PFS and OS for patients using beta-blockers was 11.40 (95% confidence interval (CI) 10.10–13.61) months and 26.8 (95% CI 22.2–32.2) months compared with 8.30 (95% CI 7.80–9.57) and 21.0 (95% CI 17.8–23.8) months for patients not using beta-blockers (p = 0.006 and p = 0.009, respectively). In the Cox multivariate analysis, the use of beta-blockers was a significant factor predicting both PFS (hazard ratio (HR) = 0.763 (95% CI 0.606–0.960), p = 0.021) and OS (HR = 0.730 (95% CI 0.560–0.951), p = 0.020). Conclusions: The results of the present retrospective study suggest that there is a significant association between the use of beta-blockers and favourable outcomes of mCRC patients treated with bevacizumab-based therapy.
Highlights
Beta-adrenergic signalling plays an important role in several cancer-related processes, including angiogenesis
The results of the present retrospective study suggest that there is a significant association between the use of beta-blockers and favourable outcomes of metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients treated with bevacizumab-based therapy
To the best of our knowledge, until now, there has been only one retrospective study investigating the role of beta-blocker use in mCRC patients treated with bevacizumab [43]
Summary
Beta-adrenergic signalling plays an important role in several cancer-related processes, including angiogenesis. The impact of beta-blocker use on prognosis of cancer patients treated with antiangiogenic agents is unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between the incidental use of beta-blockers and the outcomes of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) treated with bevacizumab-based therapy. Several retrospective studies have shown that the use of beta-blockers is associated with better prognosis of patients with various cancers, there are only limited data on the role of beta-blockers in patients with mCRC, in those treated with targeted agents. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between the incidental use of beta-blockers and the outcomes of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer treated with a combination of bevacizumab and chemotherapy
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