Report Links Osteoporosis Drug to Esophagus Cancer
Fosamax May Be Tied to 23 Cases of Esophageal Cancer, Report Says
-ABC News
01/01/2009- There could be some worrying news for the tens of millions of Americans currently taking Fosamax.
A brief report from the FDA says that the osteoporosis drug Fosamax may be linked to 23 cases of esophageal cancer.
(Getty/ABC News)A brief report published today in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests a possible link between the osteoporosis drug and the development of esophageal cancer.
The report, written by U.S. Food and Drug Administration official Diane Wysowski and published in the current New England Journal of Medicine, reveals that the FDA received 23 reports of esophageal cancer possibly linked to the drug between its October 1995 debut and May 2008. Of these patients, eight have died so far, according to the report.
The report also said that "no similar U.S. reports for other oral bisphosphonates were retrieved from the FDA's database for adverse-event reporting" -- a statement that seems to spare other drugs in the same class, such as Boniva, Actonel or Didronel, from similar condemnation. Wysowski, however, says she remains unconvinced that the rest of this class of drugs is definitely not linked to esophageal cancer.
