Antihypertensive Drug Use and the Risk of Ovarian Cancer Death among Finnish Ovarian Cancer Patients—A Nationwide Cohort Study

SIMPLE SUMMARY: According to the literature, antihypertensive drugs may affect the survival of ovarian cancer patients. We examined the association between different groups of antihypertensive drugs and ovarian cancer survival taking into account dose and duration of use as well as the simultaneous use of other drugs. With a 5-year follow-up, antihypertensive drugs were not associated with survival from ovarian cancer but with 10-year follow-up, ACE-inhibitors and with longer follow-up times also other antihypertensive drugs were associated with improved survival from ovarian cancer. The association between ACE-inhibitor use and ovarian cancer survival should be clarified in the future. ABSTRACT: Ovarian cancer (OC) has a poor prognosis. Hypertension may be a prognostic factor for OC, but it is unclear whether antihypertensive (anti-HT) drug use of modifies OC prognosis. We performed a population-based analysis assessing the effect of anti-HT drug use on OC mortality. A cohort of 12,122 women identified from the Finnish Cancer Registry with OC in 1995–2013 was combined with information on their anti-HT drug use during the same time period. Use of each anti-HT drug was analysed as a time-dependent variable. Analyses were run for five, ten and full follow-up (19-year) mortality with cardiovascular morbidity risk evaluated in competing risk analysis. No anti-HT drug group was associated with OC survival within five years after OC diagnosis. At ten years, a dose-dependent association was observed between pre-diagnostic ACE-inhibitor use and improved OC survival. With full follow-up, post-diagnostic high-intensity use associated with reduced OC death risk for multiple anti-HT drug groups. In competing risk analysis, only the post-diagnostic use of ACE-inhibitors associated with increased OC survival. Anti-HT drugs were not associated with survival benefits within five years after OC diagnosis. ACE-inhibitors may confer survival benefits in women with OC, but further confirmatory studies are needed.