A recent editorial in the respected New England Medical Journal raises this question based on findings from the “SEAS” study undertaken in Europe and presented at this year’s European Society of Cardiology in Munich, Germany.
Study Indicates Vytorin Cancer Link
Manufactured by drug companies Merck & Co and Schering-Plough, Vytorin is widely prescribed to lower cholesterol levels. The SEAS (Simvastatin and Ezetimibe in Aortic Stenosis) trial involved 1,873 patients – 105 of whom developed cancer while taking Vytorin compared to 70 who developed cancer while taking a placebo.
Ostensibly, the higher cancer incidence among Vytorin users would seem to indicate a link between Vytorin and higher rates of cancer.
Vytorin Results Still Controversial
However, the medical establishment is sharply divided as to whether the SEAS results are unreliable, more a medical “fluke” than a true predictor of a Vytorin-cancer link. Other, larger studies are underway, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to deliver its assessment in May 2009.
In the meantime? If you take Vytorin for heart issues, be sure to talk with your doctor about possible cancer risks and what you should do to minimize them.
For further information: “Identifying and Addressing Safety Signals in Clinical Trials,” Thomas R. Fleming, Ph.D., New England Journal of Medicine, published at www.nejm.org, Sept. 3, 2008.
