Tag Archives: bladder cancer

May 31, 2012 · 4:09 PM

Pioglitazone and Bladder Cancer

MedPage Today reports that another study links pioglitazone with bladder cancer in the U.K. I’m not sure how the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will react to this.

We have 11 classes of drugs for treatment of diabetes. Thiazolidinediones, aka glitazones or TZDs, are one class. Pioglitazone and rosiglitazone are the only two drugs in the class, at least in the U.S. Rosiglitazone is already highly restricted due to concern about heart toxicity.

This latest news confirms my inclination to treat type 2 diabetes with weight management, exercise, and a low-carbohydrate diet, when able.

Steve Parker, M.D.

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Filed under Drugs for Diabetes

Tagged as bladder cancer, pioglitazone

May 18, 2012 · 8:51 PM

Bladder Cancer Linked With Diabetes Drugs in Thiazolidinedione Class

MedPage Today reports that thiazolidinediones (aka glitazones) are linked to development of bladder cancer. Pioglitazone is the most commonly used TZD in the U.S. From the article:

The increased risk of bladder cancer associated with glitazones — which reached a relative increase of 72% in patients who started on the agents more than 5 years earlier — “appears to be a class effect,” the research team, led by Ronac Mamtani, MD, of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, concluded.

According to the National Cancer Institute, the U.S. has 74,000 new cases of bladder cancer yearly, and 15,000 annual deaths from bladder cancer.

If you take a thiazolidinedione, talk to your doctor about bladder cancer at your next visit.

Steve Parker, M.D.