Propranolol and survival from breast cancer: a pooled analysis of European breast cancer cohorts

Cardwell, Chris R.; Pottegård, Anton; Vaes, Evelien; Garmo, Hans; Murray, Liam J.; Brown, Chris; Vissers, Pauline A. J.; O’Rorke, Michael; Visvanathan, Kala; Cronin-Fenton, Deirdre; De Schutter, Harlinde; Lambe, Mats; Powe, Des G.; van Herk-Sukel, Myrthe P. P.; Gavin, Anna; Friis, Søren; Sharp, Linda; Bennett, Kathleen

doi:10.1186/s13058-016-0782-5

Breast Cancer Research

Table 2 Characteristics of breast cancer patients by propranolol and non-selective beta-blocker use in the year after diagnosis

From: Propranolol and survival from breast cancer: a pooled analysis of European breast cancer cohorts

	Propranolol in year after diagnosis^a				Non-selective beta-blocker in year after diagnosis^a
Characteristic	Users		Non-users^b		Users		Non-users^c
Characteristic	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%
Country
Belgium	984	35.7	25,021	19.2	2131	42.1	23,874	18.6
Denmark	615	22.3	44,049	33.8	1198	23.6	43,466	33.9
England	212	7.7	9602	7.4	299	5.9	9515	7.4
The Netherlands	78	2.8	7252	5.6	203	4.0	7130	5.6
Northern Ireland	70	2.5	2106	1.6	82	1.6	2094	1.6
Republic of Ireland	142	5.2	9720	7.4	250	4.9	9612	7.5
Scotland	400	14.5	14,740	11.3	468	9.2	14,672	11.4
Sweden	255	9.3	18,005	13.8	436	8.6	17,824	13.9
Year of cancer diagnosis
1995–1999	61	2.2	2495	1.9	84	1.7	2472	1.9
2000–2004	480	17.4	27,621	21.2	832	16.4	27,269	21.3
2005–2009	1 572	57.0	66,186	50.7	3219	63.5	64,542	50.3
2010–2014	643	23.3	34,193	26.2	932	18.4	33,904	26.4
Age at cancer diagnosis
<40	97	3.5	5591	4.3	110	2.2	5578	4.4
40–49	444	16.1	19,688	15.1	540	10.7	19,592	15.3
50–59	730	26.5	31,297	24.0	1031	20.3	30,996	24.2
60–69	768	27.9	35,528	27.2	1419	28.0	34,877	27.2
70–79	491	17.8	23,488	18.0	1235	24.4	22,744	17.7
80–89	200	7.3	12,974	9.9	647	12.8	12,527	9.8
≥90	26	0.9	1929	1.5	82	1.6	1873	1.5
Stage
1	965	35.0	49,458	37.9	1735	34.2	48,669	38.0
2	927	33.6	41,797	32.0	1718	33.9	41,006	32.0
3	284	10.3	9073	7.0	510	10.1	8847	6.9
4	138	5.0	5086	3.9	258	5.1	4966	3.9
Missing	442	16.0	25,081	19.2	843	16.6	24,699	19.3
Grade
Well differentiated	365	17.2	16,827	19.7	662	17.2	16,530	19.7
Moderately differentiated	885	41.6	34,600	40.5	1543	40.2	33,942	40.5
Poorly differentiated	639	30.0	22,964	26.9	1109	28.9	22,494	26.8
Missing	239	11.2	11,115	13.0	529	13.8	10,825	12.9
Cancer treatment within 6 months of cancer diagnosis
Surgery	2 425	88.0	114,271	87.6	4387	86.6	112,309	87.7
Chemotherapy	1 034	37.6	46,018	35.3	1608	31.8	45,444	35.5
Radiotherapy^d	1 463	54.6	68,817	53.7	2649	53.2	67,631	53.7
Medication use in year after diagnosis
Aromatase inhibitor^e	724	33.8	29,176	33.8	1459	37.7	28,441	33.6
Tamoxifen^e	1 064	49.7	39,087	45.2	1765	45.6	38,386	45.3
Statin	532	19.3	22,245	17.0	1353	26.7	21,424	16.7
Low-dose aspirin	368	13.4	17,545	13.4	1097	21.6	16,816	13.1

^aRestricted to breast cancer patients living more than 1 year after diagnosis
^bPropranolol non-users in the year after diagnosis, but could have used other beta-blockers
^cNon-selective beta-blocker non-users in the year after diagnosis, but could have used other beta-blockers
^dRefers to radiotherapy within 6 months of breast cancer diagnosis, except in Belgium where radiotherapy was considered within 9 months
^eExcluding Denmark because aromatase inhibitor and tamoxifen were not recorded separately

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ISSN: 1465-542X

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