Study shows no higher cancer risk with Vytorin

27 March 2009

A new study published in the Journal of Clinical Lipidology shows no increased cancer risk with US drug majors Merck & Co and  Schering-Plough's Zetia (ezetimibe) and Vytorin (ezetimibe/simvastatin),  compared to cancer rates for other powerful lipid-lowering statin  therapies.

Researchers studied rates of reports of cancer as an adverse event filed  with the US Food and Drug and Administration for patients taking Zetia  or Vytorin compared to those on mono-therapy with Merck's Zocor  (simvastatin), global drug giant Pfizer's Lipitor (atorvastatin) or  Anglo-Swedish drug major AstraZeneca's Crestor (rosuvastatin), during a  four-year period.

The analysis found cancer reported in 2.9 per million prescriptions for  Zetia, 1.3 per million prescriptions for Vytorin therapy and an average  of 4.1 per  million prescriptions for other lipid-lowering treatment.  These rates demonstrate no increase in cancer for Zetia and Vytorin  regimen versus the other treatments studied.

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