Salbutamol, a short acting beta-2 agonist, reduces risk and improves prognosis of prostate cancer

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundBeta-blockers, a class of drugs commonly used to manage blood pressure, have been the subject of research regarding their relationship to prostate cancer risk, prognosis, and treatment. Beta blockers reduce risk and improve prognosis of prostate cancer. Perioperative use of a non-selective beta blocker improves outcome after radical prostatectomy. But a related class of drugs, beta 2 adrenergic agonists, has received little attention in prostate cancer.MethodsWe studied the relationship of the beta 2 adrenergic agonist salbutamol to prostate cancer risk and survival. We analyzed FDA MedWatch data to determine whether salbutamol could influence the risk of prostate cancer. We used UK Biobank (UKBB) data to assess the effect of salbutamol on prostate cancer (PC) survival.ResultsSalbutamol significantly reduces prostate cancer risk, Proportional Reporting Ratio (PRR) and 95% confidence interval (lower bound; upper bound): 0.131 (0.11; 0.155) and improves prognosis. Mean survival was 7.35 years for subjects not taking salbutamol, 10.5 years for subjects taking salbutamol (p = 0.041, log rank test. To adjust for the effect of age we performed proportional hazards regression, survival time dependent variable, age and salbutamol use independent variables. Salbutamol use was significantly related to survival time (p = 0.016) and independent of the significant effect of age (p < 0.001).ConclusionSalbutamol and other beta-adrenergic agonists could represent a new class of drugs for treatment of prostate cancer.