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Thursday, December 8, 2011

ADT May Not Be Linked To Increased Risk Of Death From Cardiovascular Causes.

The Los Angeles Times Share to FacebookShare to Twitter (12/7, Roan) "Booster Shots" blog reports that "a prostate cancer treatment called androgen deprivation therapy [ADT] has been somewhat controversial because of fears that the medications involved may raise the risk of death from cardiovascular causes," but research Share to FacebookShare to Twitter published in the Journal of the American Medical Association "did not find that association." Investigators "looked at eight randomized clinical trials on" androgen deprivation therapy.
        Bloomberg News Share to FacebookShare to Twitter (12/7, Flinn) reports that investigators "examined the results of eight trials of 4,141 patients with prostate cancer that had spread beyond the gland." The researchers found that "eleven percent of patients on the therapy died from heart disease, compared with 11.2 percent in the control group, an insignificant difference, according to the report." Bloomberg News adds, "In a further analysis of 4,805 patients from 11 trials, about 37.7 percent on the medicines died, compared with 44.4 percent in the untreated group."
        HealthDay Share to FacebookShare to Twitter (12/7, Reinberg) reports, "'The use of hormone therapy and radiation is of benefit for patients,' said Dr. William Kelly, a professor of medical oncology and urology at Thomas Jefferson University's Kimmel Cancer Center in Philadelphia and co-author of an accompanying journal editorial Share to FacebookShare to Twitter ." For "this study, the benefits of hormone therapy outweighed the risks, Kelly said." But, "he noted that these were selected patients in clinical trials, not patients in the general population, in which sicker patients might be at risk for cardiovascular events from hormone therapy."
        WebMD Share to FacebookShare to Twitter (12/7, Boyles) points out that "just over a year ago the FDA warned that" the "treatments may increase the risk for fatal heart attacks in prostate cancer patients." And before that "warning, health groups -- including the American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society, and the American Urological Association -- issued a joint statement designed to alert doctors and patients about the therapy's potential risks."
        Also covering the story were Reuters Share to FacebookShare to Twitter (12/7, Pittman), and the Boston Business Journal Share to FacebookShare to Twitter (12/7, Donnelly, Subscription Publication).

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