Desloratadine and loratadine stand out among common H1-antihistamines for association with improved breast cancer survival

Abstract

Background: As tumors maintain an inflammatory microenvironment, anti-inflammatory medication can be useful in cancer therapy. We have previously shown an association with improved survival in melanoma for use of the H1-antihistamines desloratadine and loratadine, and here we examine use of H1-antihistamines and breast cancer mortality. Material and methods: We investigated use of the six major H1-antihistamines (cetirizine, clemastine, desloratadine, ebastine, fexofenadine and loratadine) and breast cancer-specific and overall mortality in a nation-wide register-based study of all 61,627 Swedish women diagnosed with breast cancer 2006–2013. Both peri- and post-diagnostic antihistamine use was analyzed using Cox regression models. Analyses were stratified for age and subgroup analyses based on estrogen receptor status and menopausal status were performed. Results: We found a consistently improved survival of desloratadine users (HR = 0.67; 95% CI 0.55–0.81, p