Angiotensin receptor blockers and breast cancer risk: a meta-analysis.

Introduction: Some studies reported that angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) reduced the risk of breast cancer. However, other studies did not show similar results.

Evidence Acquisition: The PubMed and EMBASE databases were searched. The strength of the association between ARBs and the risk of breast cancer was measured by odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI).

Evidence Synthesis: Eight eligible studies with 1,994,880 individuals were considered for this meta-analysis. ARBs was not associated with the risk of breast cancer (OR=0.93; 95% CI: 0.81-1.06; I2=86%). In the subgroup analysis of race, a significantly decreased breast cancer risk were observed in Asians (OR=0.62; 95% CI: 0.53-0.73; I2=0%). However, a significantly increased breast cancer risk were observed in Caucasians (OR=1.08; 95% CI: 1.02-1.13; I2=28%).

Conclusions: This study provided evidence that ARBs was associated with decreased breast cancer in Asians and increased risk of breast cancer in Caucasians.