SynthesisOncotarget2017
Use of non-selective β-blockers is associated with decreased tumor proliferative indices in early stage breast cancer.
Synthesis in Oncotarget, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 88 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
88 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 112 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Efficacy and Safety of Beta-blockers and Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors in Patients with Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Targeted oncology · 2025Pooled it
- Does propranolol have a role in cancer treatment? A systematic review of the epidemiological and clinical trial literature on beta-blockers.Journal of cancer research and clinical oncology · 2025Pooled it
- Cardio-Oncology: A Myriad of Relationships Between Cardiovascular Disease and Cancer.Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2022Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Post-Diagnostic Beta Blocker Use and Prognosis of Ovarian Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of 11 Cohort Studies With 20,274 Patients.Frontiers in oncology · 2021Pooled it
- Endothelial Epac1 facilitates YAP/TAZ controlled melanoma growth and angiogenesis.Angiogenesis · 2026Article
- Antitumour Effects of β-Blockers: A Narrative Review of the Literature.Current issues in molecular biology · 2026Review
- β-Adrenergic receptors as immunomodulators in T cells: mechanisms of neuroimmune crosstalk and pathophysiological implications.Molecular medicine (Cambridge, Mass.) · 2026Review
- Article
- Cancer Neoaxonogenesis: Mechanisms and Factors Involved in the Recruitment of Peripheral Nerves by Cancer Tissue.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Key role of the autonomic nervous system in breast cancer (Review).Experimental and therapeutic medicine · 2026Review
- Multicomplex Pharmacophore Modeling of Estrogen Receptors Suggests the Probable Repurposing of Procaterol as an Antiproliferative Agent Against Breast Cancer Cells.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- β-adrenergic signaling blockade attenuates metastasis through activation of cytotoxic CD4 T cells.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Article
- ADRB2 inhibition suppresses cancer immune evasion by regulating tumor SOX10-PD-L1 axis and T cell function.Journal for immunotherapy of cancer · 2025Article
- The Role of Radiosensitizing Drugs in Osteosarcoma Treatment: Mechanisms and Clinical Perspectives.Drug design, development and therapy · 2025Review
- Use of beta-blockers in patients with ductal carcinoma in situ and risk of invasive breast cancer recurrence: a Swedish retrospective cohort study.Breast cancer research and treatment · 2024Observational
- Stratification and prognostic evaluation of breast cancer subtypes defined by obesity-associated genes.Discover oncology · 2024Article
- Review
- Inside the Biology of the β3-Adrenoceptor.Biomolecules · 2024Review
28 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
21 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Previous studies suggest beta-adrenergic receptor (β-AR) antagonists (β-blockers) decrease breast cancer progression, tumor metastasis, and patient mortality; however the mechanism for this is unknown. Immunohistochemical analysis of normal and malignant breast tissue revealed overexpression of β1-AR and β3-AR in breast cancer. A retrospective cross-sectional study of 404 breast cancer patients was performed to determine the effect of β-blocker usage on tumor proliferation. Our analysis revealed that non-selective β-blockers, but not selective β-blockers, reduced tumor proliferation by 66% (p < 0.0001) in early stage breast cancer compared to non-users. We tested the efficacy of propranolol on an early stage breast cancer patient, and quantified the tumor proliferative index before and after treatment, revealing a propranolol-mediated 23% reduction (p = 0.02) in Ki67 positive tumor cells over a three-week period. The anti-proliferative effects of β-blockers were measured in a panel of breast cancer lines, demonstrating that mammary epithelial cells were resistant to propranolol, and that most breast cancer cell lines displayed dose dependent viability decreases following treatment. Selective β-blockers alone or in combination were not as effective as propranolol at reducing breast cancer cell proliferation. Molecular analysis revealed that propranolol treatment of the SK-BR-3 breast cancer line, which showed high sensitivity to beta blockade, led to a reduction in Ki67 protein expression, decreased phosphorylation of the mitogenic signaling regulators p44/42 MAPK, p38 MAPK, JNK, and CREB, increased phosphorylation of the cell survival/apoptosis regulators AKT, p53, and GSK3β. In conclusion, use of non-selective β-blockers in patients with early stage breast cancer may lead to decreased tumor proliferation.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.