"In a firstofitskind study researchers demonstrate a benefit in overall survival among epithelial ovarian cancer EOC patients receiving generic heart medications known as betablockers. Survival was shown to be greatest among those prescribed firstgeneration nonselective betablockers. According to The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center investigators the drugs block the effects of stress pathways involved in tumor growth and spread. With further research they may also prove beneficial in conjunction with other treatment regimens and across other cancer types.  Published today in the journal CANCER the findings are the result of a multiinstitutional retrospective analysis of the medical records of  women with ovarian cancer treated between  and . Researchers compared overall survival among patients with documented betablocker use during chemotherapy and those without. Among the  patients who received betablockers  . percent received betaadrenergic receptor selective agents SBBs and the remaining patients received nonselective beta antagonists NSBBs. The research team found  For patients receiving any betablocker the median overall survival was . months versus  months for nonusers.   Median overall survival based on betablocker receptor selectivity was . months for those receiving NSBBs versus  months for those receiving SBBs.   Even among patients with hypertension a longer median overall survival was observed among users of NSBBs compared with nonusers  months versus . months.  This study builds on a large body of research by principal investigator Anil Sood M.D. professor in Gynecologic Medical Oncology and Cancer Biology at MD Anderson. It showed that stress hormones fuel progression of ovarian and other cancers and that betablockers  among the most proven drugs in cardiovascular medicine  might be a new way to stifle that effect. Betablockers treat a variety of conditions such as heart disease highblood pressure glaucoma and migraines. They target a receptor protein in heart muscle that causes the heart to beat harder and faster when activated by stress hormones Sood said. Our research has shown that the same stress mechanisms impact ovarian cancer progression so these drugs could play a new role in cancer treatment.  According to Sood the usefulness of betablockers was unclear until now. The ability to show improved survival using nonselective agents  which inhibit a specific stress pathway  is the culmination of years of research into ovarian cancer biology and pathogenesis. He added that betablocker users in the study presented at a higher stage of disease had an increased average BMI and were more likely to be hypertensive. All these factors were associated with decreased survival yet those who received betablockers had either equivalent or improved overall survival. Further examination revealed that NSBB users had improved overall survival regardless of the presence of such prognostic factors or comorbidities. This was not true for patients who took SBBs.  Although further study is needed these results highlight the importance of adrenergic receptor ADRB a signaling pathway important to ovarian carcinogenesis and targeted by NSBBs versus the ADRB pathway targeted by SBBs. Ovarian cancer is the th most deadly cancer among women accounting for more deaths than any other female reproductive system cancer. An estimated  new cases are diagnosed and some  women die from the disease each year in the U.S. according to the American Cancer Society.  Future trials will seek to identify patients who would benefit most from betablocker use and the best betablocker for a specific tumor type based on adrenergic receptor expression. Then they potentially could be used as an adjuvant therapy during surgical recovery and chemotherapy to decrease tumor growth delays in wound healing and metastasis. Betablockers may also reduce cancerrelated psychological distress in newly diagnosed patients according to the study authors.  There are currently two clinical trials one led by MD Anderson evaluating the combination of chemotherapy and propranolol a type of NSBB on cancer biology and on stress modulators in patients with newly diagnosed EOC. According to Sood the preliminary data from these feasibility trials will be used to design prospective randomized clinical trials examining NSBBs on patient outcomes.  The stratification of patients by betablocker use and selectivity in this study makes it unique among all other studies examining the impact of these drugs on cancer. It also builds on the mounting evidence that betablockers may become a key treatment component for many patients in the future said Sood.  Portions of this study were supported by National Institutes of Health grants CA CA CA PCA UCA UCA UCA and CA an Ovarian Cancer Research Fund program Project Development Grant the Department of Defense grants OC WXWJ and OC the Betty Ann Asche Murray Distinguished Professorship the RGK Foundation the Gilder Foundation the BlantonDavis Ovarian Cancer Research Program and a Gynecologic Cancer FoundationSt. Louis Ovarian Cancer Awareness grant. One of the researchers has acted as a paid consultant for Incyte Pharmaceuticals and received research funding from Egen Pharmaceuticals.  Other researchers contributing to this study include Robert L. Coleman M.D. Alpa M. Nick M.D. Pedro T. Ramirez M.D. Lois M. Ramondetta M.D. Diana Urbauer Jack L. Watkins all from MD Anderson Susan K. Lutgendorf Ph.D. from University of Iowa Sanjeev Kumar M.B. B.S. from the Mayo Clinic Koji Matsuo M.D. from Mercy Medical Center Kathryn Squires M.D. and Premal H. Thaker M.D. M.S. from Washington University School of Medicine."