Researchers Plan To Continue To Study COX-2 Inhibitors in Cancer Treatment and Prevention
Abstract
Several cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) inhibitors have taken a beating from recent evidence that they can cause deaths from heart attack and stroke, but some cancer researchers say that the drugs are too promising as possible chemoprevention agents to abandon them completely. Rofecoxib (Vioxx) was withdrawn from the market in September when a colon cancer chemoprevention trial revealed an increased risk of heart attacks and strokes among long-term users (see , Vol. 96, No. 23, p. 1734, "Vioxx Withdrawal Alarms Cancer Prevention Researchers"). Soon after, valdecoxib (Bextra) was shown to increase heart attacks in people who recently had coronary artery bypass surgery. Bad for celecoxib (Celebrex), the COX-2 inhibitor used most frequently in prevention trials, came in December: It also increased the risk of heart attacks in a cancer prevention trial. Drug administration was stopped on dozens of cancer prevention trials, other studies were halted, and a U.S. Food and Drug Administration hearing was planned. Two FDA panels--the Arthritis Drug Advisory Committee and the Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee--met jointly in midFebruary. Overall, they viewed the cardiovascular risk as a class effect among the group of COX-2 inhibitors. But they voted to keep on the market the