Two new wonder drugs for type 2 diabetes dramatically increase the risk of pancreatic cancer, and one may also cause thyroid cancer.
The drugs – Januvia (sitagliptan) and Byetta (exenatide) – offer new ways of treating diabetes, and have been available on prescription only for a few years since passing safety trials successfully.
But new research from the University of California has discovered that both drugs triple the risk for pancreatic cancer compared to other, and older, diabetes therapies. In addition, Byetta – which is an injectable drug – also increases the risk of thyroid cancer.
The researchers made the discovery when they analysed America’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) database that records adverse reactions to drugs. In addition to the increased cancer risk, they also discovered that both drugs increase the chances of pancreatitis – inflammation of the pancreas – six fold.
(Source: Gastroenterology, 2011; 141: 150).
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