Salbutamol may lower risk, improve prognosis of prostate cancer

The incidence of prostate cancer is reduced among individuals treated with salbutamol, a short-acting beta-2 adrenergic agonist, according to a study.

This study explored the association of salbutamol with prostate cancer risk and survival. The researchers analysed data from the Food and Drug Administration MedWatch to determine whether salbutamol had an impact on the risk of prostate cancer. They also assessed the effect of this agent on survival using data from the UK Biobank.

Salbutamol use appeared to lower the risk of prostate cancer (proportional reporting ratio, 0.131, 95 percent confidence interval, 0.11–0.155) and improve prognosis. Patients treated with salbutamol also had a much longer survival than those not taking the study drug (mean survival: 10.5 vs 7.35 years; log-rank test, p=0.041).

In addition, treatment with salbutamol showed a significant association with survival time (p=0.016), irrespective of the significant effect of age (p<0.001).

“There is no causality relationship between salbutamol and the survival of patients with prostate cancer treated with salbutamol versus those not treated with the drug. Yet, there is a trend in favour of salbutamol-treated patient survival,” the researchers said. 

“Therefore, salbutamol and other beta-adrenergic agonists might represent a new class of drugs for the treatment of prostate cancer,” they added. 

Beta-blockers have been shown to reduce the risk and improve the prognosis of prostate cancer. Moreover, perioperative use of a nonselective beta-blocker results in better outcomes following radical prostatectomy, according to the researchers.