ArticleThe British journal of dermatology2021
Risk of skin cancer in new users of thiazides and thiazide-like diuretics: a cohort study using an active comparator group.
Article in The British journal of dermatology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 15 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 33 citations in OpenAlex.
- Associations of thiazide use with skin cancers: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC medicine · 2022Pooled it
- Role of comorbidities and medication on immunotherapy efficacy in cSCC: A DeCOG multicentre analysis.Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology : JEADV · 2026Article
- Genetic insights revealed ADRB1 as potential target for clear cell renal cell carcinoma.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Article
- Antihypertensive Medication as a Risk Factor For Basal Cell Carcinoma: A Nationwide Registry-based Case-control Study.Acta dermato-venereologica · 2025Article
- Risk of Acute Infections in New Users of Antihypertensive Drugs: An Observational Cohort Study.Journal of the American Heart Association · 2025Observational
- RalB promotes lymph node metastasis in tongue squamous cell carcinoma.Genes & genomics · 2025Article
- Antihypertensive Medications and Risk of Melanoma and Keratinocyte Carcinomas: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.JID innovations : skin science from molecules to population health · 2024Article
- The association between hydrochlorothiazide use and non-melanoma skin cancer in kidney transplant recipients.Clinical kidney journal · 2024Article
- Hydrochlorothiazide increases risk of nonmelanoma skin cancer in an elderly Japanese cohort with hypertension: The Shizuoka study.JAAD international · 2023Article
- The effect of hydrochlorothiazide on the recurrence of nonmelanoma skin cancer: a 7-year retrospective study comprising 300 patients.Turkish journal of medical sciences · 2023Article
- Chronic Use of Hydrochlorothiazide and Risk of Skin Cancer in Caucasian Adults: A PharmLines Initiative Inception Cohort Study.Acta dermato-venereologica · 2023Article
- Thiazides in chronic kidney disease: "back to the future".Clinical kidney journal · 2023Article
- A reverse translational pharmacological approach to understand the underlying mechanisms of the reported association between hydrochlorothiazide and non-melanoma skin cancer.Journal of hypertension · 2022Article
- Use of Thiazide Diuretics and Risk of All Types of Skin Cancers: An Updated Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Cancers · 2022Review
- Increased cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma risk with hydrochlorothiazide use: is there a safe alternative?The British journal of dermatology · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
- Erratum issuedCorrigenda.2022
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundCase-control studies report a dose-dependent increased risk of skin cancer in users of hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) vs. nonusers. The degree to which other thiazides and thiazide-like diuretics (TZs) are associated with skin cancer is less certain.
objectivesTo assess the risk of skin cancer in new users of different TZs compared with new users of calcium channel blockers (CCBs).
methodsWe conducted a cohort study using a UK primary-care database (1998-2017), including 271 154 new TZ users [87·6% bendroflumethiazide (BFT), 5·8% indapamide and 3·6% HCTZ] and 275 263 CCB users. The outcomes were basal cell carcinoma (BCC), squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM). We estimated incidence rates (IRs) and IR ratios (IRRs) in short-term (< 20 prescriptions) and long-term (≥ 20 prescriptions) users of TZs and CCBs using negative binomial regression, and calculated rate differences (RDs) for selected results. We used fine stratification on the propensity score (PS) to control for 23 baseline covariates.
resultsLong-term use of HCTZ increased absolute and relative risks of SCC [PS-weighted IRR 1·95; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1·87-2·02; RD per 100 000 person-years 87.4], but not of BCC or CMM. Long-term use of indapamide was associated with an increased incidence of CMM (IRR 1·43; 95% CI 1·35-1·50). BFT was not meaningfully associated with the risk of any type of skin cancer.
conclusionsOur results corroborate the previously reported increased risk of SCC (but not of BCC or CMM) for long-term use of HCTZ. BFT may be a safer alternative for patients at increased risk of skin cancer.
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