SILVER SPRING, Md., June 2, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ –The
U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced that a group of
medications used to control high blood pressure, called angiotensin
receptor blockers (ARBs), do not increase the risk of developing
cancer in patients using the medications.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090824/FDALOGO)
In July 2010, the FDA reported that a safety review of ARBs
would be performed after a published study found a small increased
risk of cancer in patients taking an ARB compared to those patients
not taking an ARB.
http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/PostmarketDrugSafetyInformationforPatientsandProviders/ucm218845.htm.
For this safety review, the FDA evaluated 31 randomized clinical
trials, comparing patients taking an ARB to patients not taking an
ARB, looking for the incidence of cancer.
“The FDA has completed its review of controlled trial data on
more than 155,000 patients randomized to ARBs or other
treatments—the largest evaluation of such data to
date—and finds no evidence of an increased risk of cancer in
patients who take an ARB,” said Mary Ross Southworth, Pharm.D.,
deputy director for safety in the Division of Cardiovascular and
Renal Drugs in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and
Research.
ARBs are medications used alone or in combination with other
medications to treat high blood pressure and other heart-related
conditions. A complete list is available in a Drug Safety
Communication issued today http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/ucm257516.htm.
Brand names include:
- Atacand (candesartan)
- Avapro (irbesartan)
- Benicar (olmes
‘/>”/>
SOURCE