cancerCancer to Become World’s Leading Killer by 2010, Experts Predict
Cancer will pass heart disease to become the world’s top killer by 2010, while the number of cancer cases and deaths should double by 2030, international health experts said. The increasing use of tobacco in developing nations in India and Asia are blamed for the predicted increase in cancer cases, officials said. More than 40 percent of the world’s smokers now live on those two continents.
Medical Journal: Can’t Rule Out Link Between Vytorin and Cancer
The jury is still out on whether the cholesterol-lowering drug Vytorin is linked to an increased risk of cancer, the editors of the New England Journal of Medicine have concluded. The editors, citing the differing results of three recent studies of Vytorin, said there is not enough evidence on either side to either prove or rule out a link between the drug and a cancer risk. Vytorin, which is co-marketed by Merck & Co. and Schering-Plough Corp., racked up $5 …
New Breast Cancer Treatment Test Gets FDA Approval
A new genetic test which identifies breast cancer patients who will respond to a powerful cancer-fighting drug has won Food and Drug Administration approval. The Spotlight HER2 CISH test, made by Invitrogen Corp. can determine whether a cancer patient is a good candidate for Herceptin, a cancer-fighting drug which destroys cancer cells in patients who have a specific cancer-promoting gene. About one in five breast cancer patients have the gene and are good candidates for Herceptin treatment. Doctors can use …
FDA Warns Companies: Stop Selling False Cancer Cures
The Food and Drug Administration is cracking down on companies suspected of selling tablets, teas, tonics, creams, and other products that claim to cure or prevent cancer without supporting medical evidence. The FDA has labeled as “bogus†remedies such as bloodroot, Cat’s Claw, shark cartilage, coral calcium and various types of mushrooms. The products are sold under various names on the internet and can in fact be more harmful than helpful to patients, health officials said. The FDA sent warning …
Foot Cream Could Cause Cancer, FDA Warns
The Food and Drug Administration is warning patients that using large amounts of a Johnson & Johnson foot ulcer medication could heighten their risk of cancer. The FDA warning concerned Regranex, which is prescribed to treat severe foot and leg ulcers in diabetics. Patients who used three or more tubes of the foot cream over a 20-month period were five times more likely to die of cancer, the FDA warned. About 750,000 people have used the drug since it was …
FDA Investigating Arthritis Drugs’ Possible Link to Cancer in Children
The Food and Drug Administration is looking into whether four drugs used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and other immune system diseases might increase the risk of cancer in children. One of the drugs being investigated is Remicade, which treats Crohn’s disease (inflammation of the bowel) in children. Remicade is made by Johnson & Johnson and is sold in Europe by Schering-Plough. The other drugs involved in the FDA investigation are Enbrel, sold by Amgen and Wyeth; Humira, sold by Abbott …
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