Adjusted hazards ratio for hypertension in Mongolian of rural Chinese.

<p>HR: hazards ratio; 95%CI: 95% confidence interval;</p>*<p>adjusted for age, high school education, family history of hypertension, drinking, prehypertension, BMI, physical activity.</p

Incidence of hypertension in HAN and MON of rural Chinese.

<p>95%CI: 95% confidence interval;</p>*<p><i>P</i><0.05, compared with HAN populations.</p

Baseline characteristics of study participants.

*<p>Mean ± SD; BP, blood pressure; BMI: body mass index.</p

Flow Chart of Study Selection.

<p>Flow chart shows literature search for relevant studies about the association between ARB-based therapy and risk of cancer.</p

Lack of an Association between Angiotensin Receptor Blocker Based Therapy and Increased Risk of Cancer: Evidence from Large Observational Studies

<div><p>Background</p><p>A previous meta-analysis of randomized controlled studies that were not designed to investigate cancer as a primary outcome suggested that ARB-based therapy is associated with increased risk of cancer; however, results of recent observational studies considering the association have been contradictory. This study sought to evaluate the association between angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB)-based therapy and risk of cancer by conducting a meta-analysis of observational studies.</p><p>Methods</p><p>Relevant articles published before February 2014 were identified by searching PubMed and the Cochrane Library. Pooled relative risks (RRs) were determined using a random effects model and were used to assess the strength of association between use of ARB-based therapy and risk of cancer.</p><p>Results</p><p>Six retrospective cohort studies involving a total of 3,827,109 participants and four case-control studies involving a total of 193,029 cases were included. The present study found that ARB-based therapy was not significantly associated with an increased risk of cancer (RR = 0.87, 95%CI: [0.75, 1.01]). However, an analysis including only cohort studies suggested a significantly decreased risk of cancer among individuals with any history of ARB use as compared to those with no history of ARB use (RR = 0.80, 95%CI: [0.55, 0.95]); no significant association was found between ARB use and risk of cancer when the case-control studies were separately considered (RR = 1.03, 95%CI: [0.93, 1.13]). Subgroup analyses showed that use of ARB-based therapy was associated with decreased risk of lung cancer (RR = 0.81, 95%CI: [0.69, 0.94]); however, no significant associations were found with the other cancer sites investigated. Furthermore, no association was observed upon adjustment by type of ARB drug. No publication bias was detected.</p><p>Conclusion</p><p>Overall, ARB-based therapy was not associated with increased risk of cancer. However, its use may be related to decreased incidence of lung cancer; this finding should be considered carefully and confirmed with further studies.</p></div

Flow chart of participant recruitment and derivation of the population used in the final analysis.

<p>Flow chart of participant recruitment and derivation of the population used in the final analysis.</p

Funnel plot of ARB-based therapy and risk of cancer.

<p>Funnel plot is relatively symmetrical which suggests there is no significant publication bias.</p