The editor of The New England Journal of Medicine says it is too soon to dismiss concerns about cancer risks even after studying the results from three studies. A study on Vytorin called SEAS was presented at the society's meeting in Munich and simultaneously published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The Journal's editorial that accompanied the SEAS study said that since the combined data from three Vytorin trials showed an increase in cancer mortality with ezetimibe, one should not rule out the cancer link completely and wait until all clinical trials are completed.
Ezetimibe, known as Zetia, is one of two drugs combined in Vytorin. The other, the statin Zocor, has not been linked to cancer risk.
In the SEAS trial, patients on placebo had a 0.5% annual risk of getting cancer. This risk doubled in patients on Vytorin -- but only to 0.9% a year. This risk was even lower in the two ongoing trials: 0.4% per year in control patients, and 0.5% per year in patients taking Vytorin, WebMD reports.
Meanwhile, drug manufacturers Merck & Co. and Schering-Plough Corp., said patients shouldn't stop taking the medicine. It is the second study this year that failed to show the benefit Vytorin's makers had hoped for.
