How can treating diabetes cause bladder cancer?

Posted: Mon, 11/28/2011 - 6:32pm
By: Darby

Yet another diabetes drug is coming under increased scrutiny after both American and French studies linked users of the drug to a greater risk of developing bladder cancer. Actos, also known as Pioglitazone, is an oral drug that helps control blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes. It is the top-selling drug for Takeda, Japan's largest pharmaceutical company. The company sold a whopping $4.3 billion worth of the drug in 2010 alone, although sales have begun to slump with these new troublesome findings.

In 2010, FDA officials published results from a 10-year study of the drug, which revealed that Actos users could be more likely to develop bladder cancer, espcially those who use the drug for more than a year. Despite these findings, the drug remains on the market. If this were the sort of drug that people took for a few weeks or even months for a temporary condition, maybe one could argue that this qualifies as an acceptable risk. But people with type 2 diabetes, barring a small miracle, will likely take a blood sugar regulating drug like Actos for years if not decades.

Bladder cancer claimed nearly 15,000 lives last year, and I for one would hate to lose a loved one to this terrible disease because of a drug that's supposed to help regualte blood sugar levels. If you or someone close to you does choose to continue taking Actos, please be on the lookout for symptoms. If symptoms like blood in urine, changes in urine color, or painful urination arise, visit a doctor immediately. If it's too late and bladder cancer has already taken its toll after you or a loved one used Actos, do the right thing and take a stand before this potentially very dangerous drug claims more lives.

Tags: Actos, Bladder Cancer

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