Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40282534›Full record

ReviewCancers2025

The Impact of Beta Blockers on Survival in Cancer Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Alisha E Sharma, Stephanie Chan, Adam S Komorowski, Xingshan Cao, Yizhuo Gao, Kushal Kshatri, Kairavi Desai, Markus Kuksis, Michael Rosen, Anjali Sachdeva and 5 more

Abstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Cancers, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
16citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

16 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

15 authors.

Alisha E SharmaDepartment of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3H2, Canada.
Stephanie ChanSchulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 5C1, Canada.
Adam S KomorowskiDepartment of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON L8N 3Z5, Canada.ORCID 0000-0003-2101-7701
Xingshan CaoDepartment of Research Design and Biostatistics, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, ON M4N 3M5, Canada.
Yizhuo GaoCumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 2T8, Canada.
Kushal KshatriDepartment of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON L8N 3Z5, Canada.
Kairavi DesaiMichael G DeGroote School of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON L8P 1H6, Canada.
Markus KuksisDepartment of Family Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5G 1V7, Canada.
Michael RosenDepartment of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3E 0W2, Canada.
Anjali SachdevaTemerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3H2, Canada.
Isabella KojundzicFaculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1H 8M5, Canada.
Saif SamariDepartment of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON L8N 3Z5, Canada.
Iacovos P MichaelSunnybrook Research Institute, Toronto, ON M4N 3M5, Canada.
Husam Abdel-QadirInstitute of Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5T 3M6, Canada.
Katarzyna J JerzakInstitute of Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5T 3M6, Canada.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

BACKGROUND/

objectivesBeta adrenergic signaling has been implicated in cancer progression, leading to interest in repurposing beta blockers (BBs) as adjunctive anti-cancer agents. However, clinical findings are inconsistent. This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluates the association between BB use and survival outcomes in cancer patients.

methodsA systematic search of OVID Medline, EMBASE, and CENTRAL was conducted through 13 September 2023, for studies comparing survival outcomes in solid tumor patients using BBs versus non-users. Eligible studies reported hazard ratios (HRs) for overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), or cancer-specific survival (CSS). Perioperative studies and those without BB-specific HRs were excluded. Data extraction and quality assessment were performed in duplicate using ROBINS-I. A random-effects model was used, with heterogeneity assessed by the I

resultsSeventy-nine studies (492,381 patients) met the inclusion criteria; 2.5% were prospective. The most frequently studied cancers were breast (

conclusionsBB use may be associated with longer PFS in cancer patients, but findings are limited by study design and heterogeneity; high-quality prospective studies are needed.

Indexed as

beta blockerscardio-oncologydrug repurposingpharmacology

Identifiers

PMID40282534
PMCPMC12026060

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.