Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Vytorin: Cancer Risk for This Heart Drug?

From various sources, link below. Several larger studies say no, one smaller study suggests yes.

Last year, a heart researcher (Terje Pedersen) released a from an 1,800 patient study. According to it, 47% of those taking the cholesterol drug Vytorin were more likely to develop cancer than those taking a placebo.

Pedersen and other scientists conducting two Vytorin studies tried to refute the findings. An analysis of data from two larger but unfinished Vytorin studies showed no increased risk of cancer.

A 18,000-patient larger study, called IMPROVE-IT, which began in October 2005 and is set to continue until 2012, didn't have enough useful information to give any answers. Another 9,000 patient test (which began in June 2003) in patients with kidney issues, code-named SHARP, showed no increased risk of cancer.

Source here.