Prostate cancer drug not as helpful as previously thought

Men taking one of the two most common oral cancer treatments

prostate, which also underwent hormonaltherapy are at higher risk of serious cardiovascular problems than patients receiving hormone therapy alone, researchers from Michigan Medicine found. Discuss

Patients treated with abiraterone are at risk ofto the emergency room or hospital due to diabetes, hypertension, or heart disease was 1.77 times higher than those taking hormone therapy alone. Patients treated with enzalutamide were 1.22 times more likely to experience these problems.

Abiraterone and enzalutamide have been recognizedrelatively safe in clinical trials, but concerns that the population of patients participating in trials was different from those who took part in real life, forced researchers to take another look at the effects of drugs.

“Patients participating in clinical trialstend to be highly selective and often do not reflect the patient population in daily practice,” – says Lillian Y. Lai, MD, PhD, first author of the study. “By studying side effects in real-world settings, we can better understand the risks of these life-extending cancer treatments and help doctors and patients make informed treatment decisions.”

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