Breast-cancer drug Aromasin from Pfizer Inc., and similar drugs from (Arimidex) AstraZeneca Plc and (Femara) Novartis AG seem to be making women prone to heart diseases. Women taking these drugs are 26 percent more likely to develop heart disease than an older therapy, a study presented today at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in Texas, found. All these drugs belong to a family of treatments known as aromatase inhibitors and these halts the production of estrogen, which fuels cancer growth.
Tamoxifen a generic alternative, in use since 1977, proved to be better alternative during the same study.
“It appears that aromatase inhibitors have a significant increase in cardiotoxic side effects, such as heart attack, angina and heart failure, Switching drugs may reduce the side effects.” said Eitan Amir, a senior fellow in oncology and hematology at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto, in a statement.
via Bloomberg
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