Reserpine and breast cancer in women in Germany

Abstract

Exposure to reserpine was compared in 181 women interviewed prior to biopsy and found to have breast cancer and 307 women found to have a benign disorder of the breast. The age-adjusted relative risk of breast cancer in those who had taken reserpine was 0.6 (95% confidence limits: 0.4 and 1.1). When the 181 breast cancer patients were compared with a second control group of 101 women with a benign condition requiring surgery, the relative risk was 0.9 (95% confidence limits: 0.4 and 1.7). Neither long-term exposure nor its timing, gave any evidence of an association with breast cancer. The findings in this study do not support the hypothesis that rauwolfia derivatives initiate or promote breast cancer.