Antihypertensive drugs and pancreatic cancer risk in patients with chronic pancreatitis: a Danish nationwide population-based cohort study

BACKGROUND: Antihypertensives may inhibit pancreatic carcinogenesis. We examined the association between use of these drugs and pancreatic cancer in patients with chronic pancreatitis. METHODS: We conducted a nationwide population-based cohort study of all chronic pancreatitis patients diagnosed in Denmark during 1996–2012. Using a Cox proportional hazards model with time-varying exposure lagged by 1 year, we examined the risk of pancreatic cancer according to antihypertensive drug use. RESULTS: We included 8,311 patients with chronic pancreatitis and observed 153 pancreatic cancers during follow-up. At baseline, 2197 patients (26.4%) were exposed to at least one class of antihypertensive drugs. We did not observe any measurable associations between the use of antihypertensive drugs and pancreatic cancer. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest little evidence of an association between the use of antihypertensive drugs and pancreatic cancer risk in patients with chronic pancreatitis. Confirmation is warranted in future studies.