Background: Preclinical evidence suggests that certain antipsychotic medications may inhibit the development of lung cancer. This study aims to investigate the association between incident lung cancer and different cumulative exposure periods of flupentixol or any antipsychotics.
Methods: Using electronic health records from the Hospital Authority in Hong Kong, this nested case-control study included case participants aged 18 years or older with newly diagnosed lung cancer after initiating antipsychotics between January 1, 2003, and August 31, 2022. Each case was matched to up to ten controls of the same sex and age, who were also antipsychotic users. Multivariable conditional logistic regression models were conducted to quantify the association between lung cancer and different cumulative exposure times of flupentixol (0-365 days [ref]; 366-1825 days; 1826+ days) and any antipsychotics (1-365 days [ref]; 366-1825 days; 1826+ days), separately.
Results: Here we show that among 6435 cases and 64,348 matched controls, 64.06% are males, and 52.98% are aged 65-84 years. Compared to patients with less than 365 days of exposure, those with 366-1825 days of exposure to flupentixol (OR = 0.65 [95% CI, 0.47-0.91]) and any antipsychotics (0.42 [0.38-0.45]) have a lower risk of lung cancer. A decreased risk is observed in patients who have 1826+ days of cumulative use of any antipsychotics (0.54 [0.47-0.60]).
Conclusions: A reduced risk of lung cancer is observed in patients with more than one year of exposure to flupentixol or any antipsychotics. Further research on the association between lung cancer and other antipsychotic agents is warranted.
Antipsychotic drugs are mainly used to treat mental illnesses. Certain antipsychotic medications, such as flupentixol, may help protect patients against lung cancer. Here, we investigated whether prolonged use of flupentixol or other antipsychotics could reduce the occurrence of lung cancer among antipsychotic users. We demonstrated that a smaller proportion of patients with one to five years and more than five years of exposure to any antipsychotics develop lung cancer compared to those with less than one year of exposure. Specifically, for flupentixol, we observed a smaller proportion of patients with one to five years of exposure develop lung cancer compared to those with less than one year. To substantiate our current findings, further studies examining other populations and specific antipsychotic agents are necessary for developing effective lung cancer prevention strategies among this high-risk population.
© 2023. The Author(s).