The story so far: Three widely prescribed medicines used to treat high blood pressure, life-threatening fungal infections and organ transplant rejection have been classified as “carcinogenic to humans” (Group 1) by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the World Health Organisation’s specialised cancer research agency.
The three drugs — hydrochlorothiazide, voriconazole and tacrolimus — feature on the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines and are prescribed to millions of people worldwide. Hydrochlorothiazide is commonly used to treat hypertension, voriconazole is an antifungal medicine used to manage serious invasive fungal infections, while tacrolimus is an immunosuppressant that prevents rejection of transplanted organs.