Diabetes Drug Actos Linked to Bladder Cancer

After reviewing official reports of bad drug reactions, health officials are determining that there is more evidence to link the diabetes drug Actos to bladder cancer. The possibility of an increased cancer risk is already mentioned in the prescribing information for the drug.

Between 2004 and 2009, more than half a million adverse reactions among people taking anti-diabetic drugs were added to an official U.S. Food and Drug Administration database. There were 138 instances of bladder cancer among these reports, with patients taking at least one of 15 different anti-diabetic drugs.

The FDA began a safety review of Actos last year after receiving early results from a long-term study from the drug’s maker, Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. The study showed an increased risk of bladder cancer in patients with the longest exposure to Actos, and in those who received the highest cumulative dose of the drug.

The FDA maintains that patients currently taking Actos should discontinue doing so unless instructed by their doctor. However, the authors of the newest study caution that physicians should “pay careful attention to this possible risk.”

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