October 14, 2008

expert comment on research into rofecoxib, as published in the Lancet

The anti-inflammatory drug rofecoxib, also known as Vioxx, was found to ‘substantially’ increase the risk of stroke, heart attack and death when used to treat bowel cancer.

Prof Gordon McVie, Senior Consultant, European Institute of Oncology, Milan, and former CEO of CRUK, said:

“It would appear that on the basis of this and other research documenting the side effects of rofecoxib, this drug is not a suitable candidate for chemoprevention – i.e. for use as an agent to protect individuals from the occurrence or reoccurrence of cancer. For any drug that might be given in order to protect individuals from disease, the first consideration always has to be the safety and potential side effects of that drug. Even those chemopreventative agents that we know much more about than rofecoxib – such as tamoxifen – are still not being taken up on a wide scale because of their side effects.”