Spironolactone does not increase breast cancer recurrence

Breast cancer recurrence was not increased in patients using spironolactone to treat androgenic alopecia, according to a poster presented at the American Academy of Dermatology virtual meeting.

Patients who previously had breast cancer were identified using the Humana Insurance database. A retrospective analysis divided these subjects into groups by spironolactone prescription and matched them 1:1 to evaluate breast cancer recurrence within 2 years.

Seven hundred forty-six patients who had been prescribed spironolactone were identified and matched to 746 of 28,400 patients who had not been prescribed spironolactone.

Breast cancer recurrence occurred in 16.5% of those who received spironolactone compared with 15.8% of those who did not receive spironolactone; the difference was not statistically significant.

“Spironolactone was not associated with increased risk for breast cancer recurrence within 2 years after adjusting for patient characteristics,” the study authors wrote. “Spironolactone may be considered as a viable treatment option by providers in the armament for hair loss in breast cancer survivors.”

The authors recommended longer prospective studies to confirm the results.