Hypertension Drugs & Cancer Link "Unjust"

An article published in the American Journal of Hypertension (July issue) alleging a link between the calcium-channel blocker class of anti-hypertension drugs, and the development of cancer is "wholly unjustified," said Pfizer.

The results presented suggested that 13% of 202 elderly patients taking calcium-channel blockers had developed cancer, as opposed to 4.8% of 124 patients taking ACE-inhibitors for high blood pressure. The company added that "the article's theoretical linkage is extremely far-fetched," with its conclusions being drawn from weak or faulty data that has been discredited by the majority of scientific establishments.

Roger Sachs, senior vice president of medical affairs for Pfizer, went on to say that the US Food and Drug Administration requires such thorough toxicology tests regarding carcinogenicity that any potential of the drug to cause or proliferate tumors would have been detected.