This article was taken from yahoo.com News today. It is not meant to cause a disruption, but merely an interesting article on products many of us use. Not sure if there is a direct correlation or if this could even be old news.. Food for thought
I'm interested to hear the opinions of some vets on this.
(p.s. If this is in the wrong section, please move it)
Breast Cancer Drug May Weaken Bones, Study Finds
HealthDay - Tue Feb 7th, 2012 11:47 PM EST
TUESDAY, Feb. 7 (HealthDay News) -- A drug used to prevent breast
cancer in women at high risk for the disease appears to cause bone loss in
some postmenopausal women, a new study finds.
The drug, Aromasin (exemestane), has been shown to reduce the odds of
breast cancer by 65 percent, but it also worsens bone density by about
three times in older women who are taking it, Canadian researchers
report.
"The drug did affect bone density at the hip and spine," said lead
researcher Dr. Angela Cheung, a senior scientist at the University Health
Network in Toronto. "It does not affect everyone; about 65 percent of
women have some bone loss."
The fear of bone loss is not a reason not to take the drug, Cheung
said. "You really need to pay attention to your bone health when you take
this medication, especially for preventing breast cancer."
However, for women who are at high risk for fractures, other drugs
should be considered, she added.
Women taking this drug should also be taking calcium and vitamin D
supplements, and having their bone density monitored, Cheung said.
An older drug, tamoxifen, actually builds bone, but it is not as
effective at preventing breast cancer, she said. "But, for someone with
healthy bones it is worthwhile taking the medication."
Exemestane is an aromatase inhibitor and works by suppressing the
female hormone estrogen. These drugs are standard treatment for
postmenopausal women with early stage hormone-receptor-positive breast
cancer.
It had been speculated that exemestane, a third-generation aromatase
inhibitor, might result in less bone loss than other similar drugs and
might even stimulate bone formation.
For the new study, Cheung's team looked at bone loss among the more
than 4,500 women who took part in a trial that compared exemestane with a
placebo.
Among women taking the drug, the risk of developing breast cancer was
lowered 65 percent, compared with women taking a placebo.
Among the 351 women in whom bone loss was studied, the researchers
found that after two years there was an 8 percent loss of cortical bone in
women taking exemestane, compared with 1 percent in the placebo group.
Cortical bone is the outer shell of bone that provides most of the bone
support, and its loss accounts for about 80 percent of fractures in older
people, the researchers noted.
The findings were published in the Feb. 6 online edition of The
Lancet Oncology .
Dr. Stephanie Bernik, chief of surgical oncology at Lenox Hill Hospital
in New York City, was somewhat cautious about the new research. She said
that "the study needs longer follow-up to see if there is an increased
risk of fracture."
"This study doesn't mean that we should stop using these drugs," she
said. "We certainly rely on aromatase inhibitors more than tamoxifen in
postmenopausal women, because the survival benefit has been proven."
The benefit of the drug outweighs that risk for most women, she said.
However, if there is a family history of osteoporosis it may not be the
best choice, Bernik said.
More information
For more on breast cancer, visit the
American Cancer Society .
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