FDA to review safety of prostate cancer drugs

WASHINGTON, D.C. – (Cancer Digest) – The FDA announced today that it will review the safety of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) blockers. These are a common hormone blockade therapy drugs used to treat men with prostate cancer. Recent studies have linked them with a small increased risk for diabetes, heart attack, stroke, and sudden death in men treated with one of the medications.
Based on initial findings, FDA advises:

• Health care professionals should be aware of these potential risks and carefully weigh the benefits and risks of GnRH agonists when determining a treatment for patients with prostate cancer.
• Patients receiving a GnRH agonist should be monitored for the development of diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
• Cardiovascular risk factors such as smoking and increases in blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar and weight should be managed according to current clinical practice.
• Patients should not stop treatment with a GnRH agonist unless instructed to do so by a health care professional. 

Some of the brand names that belong to this class of drug include:

• Eligard  (Sanofi-Aventis)
• Lupron (Abbott Laboratories)
• Synarel (Pfizer)
• Trelstar  (Watson Pharmaceuticals)
• Vantas (Endo Pharmaceuticals)
• Viadur (Bayer Pharmaceuticals)
• Zoladex  (AstraZeneca)

For more information, check the FDA announcement.