A PATIENT WROTE:
I just read in the Wall Street Journal today (WSJ ARTICLE) about the angiotensin
receptor blockers that may cause lung cancer. I have been taking one of
those drugs for a while. I take Losartan, 100mg once a day. Should I be
taking something else? There is a 30% increased chance of cancer from
this drug. Please let me know how you feel about this.
Thanks,
A patient
MY RESPONSE:
I saw the article….and if you read it with some objectivity, you will see there is a great deal of controversy here.
Not sure where this will shake out…..so would not change…yet.
Why? I think it’s premature…..and the jury is still out.
Alternatives have their issues as well……
This is quite an inflammatory article….without more perspective, it would be unreasonable to stop the medication now, but if you prefer….we could switch to something similar, that should work as well, but which has some other potential baggage. See…that’s the problem…..things are often more complicated than they appear. The alternatives, like ACE inhibitors….have the rare chance of life-threatening allergic reactions….but I’ve never seen one that I’m aware of…..so you would change one ‘theoretical’ issue for a second ‘known’ issue that is of extremely small frequency. Not sure it’s worth it.
I am on an ARB class drug too….and I am not changing at this point.
But….we need to monitor this data and see if further research validates the concerns.
D