Three new-generation cancer drugs have fatal side effects. They are designed to target only cancerous tumours in the kidney and liver – but they also “significantly” increase the risk of sudden death from bleeding and heart failure.
The drugs – Nexavar (sorafenib), Sutent (sunitinib) and Votrient (pazopanib) – caused fatal complications in 1.5 per cent of patients, according to a new research study.
Researchers from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute made the discovery when they analysed 10 previous clinical trials that featured 4,679 patients taking one of the drugs. Patients with previous heart problems should be the ones finally deciding whether to take on of the drugs, say the researchers, as they may be at a specially high risk.
(Source: Journal of Clinical Oncology, 2012; doi: 10.1200/JCO.2011.37.1195).
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