Health trends

Caution on breast cancer imaging

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is notifying women who participate in breast-cancer screening and health-care professionals that thermography is not a replacement for screening mammography and should not be used by itself to diagnose breast cancer. Thermographic systems use an infrared camera to produce images (thermograms) that show the patterns of heat and blood flow on or near the surface of the body.

The FDA stated that it is not aware of any valid scientific data to show that thermographic devices, when used on their own, are an effective screening tool for any medical condition, including the early detection of breast cancer or other breast disease. The FDA stated that it is concerned that women will believe these misleading claims about thermography and not receive needed mammograms. Certain facilities, websites, and mobile units are promoting the use of thermography as a stand-alone evaluation tool for screening and diagnosing breast cancer, claiming that it is a substitute for or superior to mammography.

- Source: US Food and Drug Administration

Hypertension treatment does not increase cancer risk

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced that a group of medications used to control high blood pressure, called angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) do not increase the risk of developing cancer. In July 2010, the FDA reported that a safety review of ARBs would be performed after a published study found a small increased risk of cancer in patients taking an ARB compared to those patients not taking an ARB.

For this safety review, the FDA evaluated 31 randomised clinical trials, comparing patients taking an ARB to patients not taking an ARB, looking for the incidence of cancer.

"The FDA has completed its review of controlled trial data on more than 155,000 patients randomised to ARBs or other treatments—the largest evaluation of such data to date — and finds no evidence of an increased risk of cancer in patients who take an ARB," said Mary Ross Southworth, Pharm. D., deputy director for safety in the Division of Cardiovascular and Renal Drugs in the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.

- Source: US Food and Drug Administration