Elidel and Protopic could cause cancer

Two eczema drugs could cause cancer
Indo-Asian News Service


Washington, March 11 (IANS) Prolonged use of two drugs recommended for the skin disease eczema may lead to increased risk of cancer, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned.

The drugs - Elidel and Protopic - that work on eczema by suppressing the immune system, will receive new label warnings on the increased risk of cancer.

The FDA has recommended short-term and intermittent use of the drugs as the last option and in a lowest possible amount, saying, "The long-term safety of these products is unknown."

The agency stressed that children under two years old and others with a weakened or compromised immune system should not use the drugs.

In its advisory to doctors, the FDA said animal and human tests had shown an increase in cancer associated with the drugs and a small number of cancers had been reported in children and adults treated with the drugs.

The agency said manufacturers of the two drugs had agreed to carry out further tests to determine the actual risk.

However, Fujisawa Healthcare Inc., maker of Protopic, and Novartis Pharmaceuticals, maker of Elidel, said their researches had shown no increased risk of cancer from the drug use.


Indo-Asian News Service

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