Diabetes Drugs May Lower Risk Of Lung Cancer
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The use of diabetes drugs called
thiazolidinediones, such as rosiglitazone (Avandia) and pioglitazone
(Actos), may reduce the risk of lung cancer, according to a report in the
Journal of Clinical Oncology.
These are preliminary findings, Dr. Rangaswamy Govindarajan from the
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, told Reuters
Health. "Physicians should be cautioned not to start using these agents for
cancer prevention."
Govindarajan and colleagues investigated the effect of thiazolidinediones on
the risk of lung, prostate, and colon cancer in men aged 40 years and older
with diabetes, using a database covering 10 Veterans Affairs medical
centers.
Among 87,678 individuals identified, there were 1137 cases of colon cancer,
3246 cases of prostate cancer and 1371 cases of lung cancer.
After accounting for all other risk factors, patients who were prescribed
thiazolidinediones had a 33 percent lower risk of lung cancer than patients
who were not prescribed thiazolidinediones, the researchers report. These
drugs may also reduce the risk of prostate and colon cancer, but the
findings were not statistically significant.
The lung cancer risk reduction seen with thiazolidinedione use was much
greater among African American men than among white men, the researchers
note. Similar subgroup analyses yielded inconsistent results for prostate
and colorectal cancer.
"We are still in the process of designing further studies," Govindarajan
said.
SOURCE: Journal of Clinical Oncology, April 20, 2007.