bob, Speaking of cancer and SERMs, here's an intersting related item that may get AHP pushing TSE424 a bit harder:
Thursday January 22, 10:54 pm Eastern Time
Study may explain how estrogens cause cancer
By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent
WASHINGTON, Jan 22 (Reuters) - U.S. chemists reported on Thursday they had found a
by-product of Premarin, the top- selling menopause drug, which could explain why users have a
higher risk of cancer.
Reporting in Chemical Research in Toxicology, a journal of the American Chemical Society, they
said it damaged DNA in a way that could cause breast cancer and all estrogen replacement drugs
should be checked for the same effect.
The research team, led by Judy Bolton from the University of Illinois in Chicago, and the makers of
Premarin both described the findings as preliminary.
Manufacturer Wyeth-Ayerst, an American Home Products (AHP - news) subsidiary, said it
doubted the findings could be extended to women.
''While we have not yet had an opportunity to read the paper... the results of this study are very
preliminary,'' spokeswoman Audrey Ashby said.
''It is important to point out that the entire sequence of reactions hypothesized by the author are
highly unlikely and are not known to occur in women receiving estrogen replacement therapy.''
Bolton and her colleagues were trying to figure out why Premarin and other forms of estrogen
replacement therapy are associated with slightly higher rates of breast cancer.
They made a synthetic version of one of the components of Premarin, which is derived from the
urine of pregnant mares, and studied how it breaks down in a test tube.
They found this breakdown product, or metabolite, reacted in an unusual way with DNA -- the
body's genetic building blocks. Damage to DNA can cause cancer.
''If this reaction were to occur with DNA in breast cells, and that damage is not repaired, mutations
could result, leading to the initiation of the carcinogenic process in the breast,'' Bolton said in a
statement.
Bolton stressed that her team used a synthetic chemical and there was no evidence that Premarin or
any other estrogen broke down to make this particular metabolite in humans.
''Making the step from our study to the cell is a big step, let alone the step from the cells to the
animals to the person,'' Bolton said in a telephone interview. ''This is extremely preliminary work.''
She said the effect might extend to all estrogens.
''Estrogens are carcinogenic and it's known that the longer a woman is exposed to estrogen, the
higher her risk of developing cancer,'' Bolton said.
Cancer experts have long said a woman's higher risk of cancer that comes with hormone
replacement therapy (HRT) is the same as her risk would be if she had not gone through
menopause. In other words, the body's natural production of estrogen can be a cause of cancer
over time.
HRT decreases a woman's overall risk of death, greatly reducing the chance she will develop
osteoporosis and reducing the risk of heart disease -- which kills many more women than cancer
does.
Premarin is the number one prescribed drug in the United States, taken by 10 million women.
Worldwide sales in 1996 were $1.39 billion.
A newly approved drug may offer many of the benefits of HRT without the risks. Eli Lilly and Co's
(LLY - news) Evista, approved in December, is the first of a new class of drugs that fight thinning
bones and which might also help protect older women against heart disease.
The drug, known generically as raloxifene, works by mimicking the effects of estrogen in some parts
of the body -- for example its protective effects on bone -- while avoiding ''bad'' effects such as an
increased risk of cancer.
More Quotes
and News:
American Home Products Corp (NYSE:AHP - news)
Eli Lilly and Co (NYSE:LLY - news)
Related News Categories: health, medical/pharmaceutical
Thursday January 22, 10:54 pm Eastern Time
Study may explain how estrogens cause cancer
By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent
WASHINGTON, Jan 22 (Reuters) - U.S. chemists reported on Thursday they had found a
by-product of Premarin, the top- selling menopause drug, which could explain why users have a
higher risk of cancer.
Reporting in Chemical Research in Toxicology, a journal of the American Chemical Society, they
said it damaged DNA in a way that could cause breast cancer and all estrogen replacement drugs
should be checked for the same effect.
The research team, led by Judy Bolton from the University of Illinois in Chicago, and the makers of
Premarin both described the findings as preliminary.
Manufacturer Wyeth-Ayerst, an American Home Products (AHP - news) subsidiary, said it
doubted the findings could be extended to women.
''While we have not yet had an opportunity to read the paper... the results of this study are very
preliminary,'' spokeswoman Audrey Ashby said.
''It is important to point out that the entire sequence of reactions hypothesized by the author are
highly unlikely and are not known to occur in women receiving estrogen replacement therapy.''
Bolton and her colleagues were trying to figure out why Premarin and other forms of estrogen
replacement therapy are associated with slightly higher rates of breast cancer.
They made a synthetic version of one of the components of Premarin, which is derived from the
urine of pregnant mares, and studied how it breaks down in a test tube.
They found this breakdown product, or metabolite, reacted in an unusual way with DNA -- the
body's genetic building blocks. Damage to DNA can cause cancer.
''If this reaction were to occur with DNA in breast cells, and that damage is not repaired, mutations
could result, leading to the initiation of the carcinogenic process in the breast,'' Bolton said in a
statement.
Bolton stressed that her team used a synthetic chemical and there was no evidence that Premarin or
any other estrogen broke down to make this particular metabolite in humans.
''Making the step from our study to the cell is a big step, let alone the step from the cells to the
animals to the person,'' Bolton said in a telephone interview. ''This is extremely preliminary work.''
She said the effect might extend to all estrogens.
''Estrogens are carcinogenic and it's known that the longer a woman is exposed to estrogen, the
higher her risk of developing cancer,'' Bolton said.
Cancer experts have long said a woman's higher risk of cancer that comes with hormone
replacement therapy (HRT) is the same as her risk would be if she had not gone through
menopause. In other words, the body's natural production of estrogen can be a cause of cancer
over time.
HRT decreases a woman's overall risk of death, greatly reducing the chance she will develop
osteoporosis and reducing the risk of heart disease -- which kills many more women than cancer
does.
Premarin is the number one prescribed drug in the United States, taken by 10 million women.
Worldwide sales in 1996 were $1.39 billion.
A newly approved drug may offer many of the benefits of HRT without the risks. Eli Lilly and Co's
(LLY - news) Evista, approved in December, is the first of a new class of drugs that fight thinning
bones and which might also help protect older women against heart disease.
The drug, known generically as raloxifene, works by mimicking the effects of estrogen in some parts
of the body -- for example its protective effects on bone -- while avoiding ''bad'' effects such as an
increased risk of cancer.
More Quotes
and News:
American Home Products Corp (NYSE:AHP - news)
Eli Lilly and Co (NYSE:LLY - news)
Related News Categories: health, medical/pharmaceutical |
