FDA Panel warns anemia drug dangerous for cancer patients

A panel of experts advising the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States has warned that the popular anemia drug erythropoietin may not be as safe as first thought.

The panel suggests that the drug may possibly shorten the lives of cancer patients.

The FDA panel is saying that the drug should be prescribed less often, for shorter periods and in certain cancer victims not at all.

The panel also suspects the drug is over-prescribed especially in cancer patients, because doctors receive a kickback from the drug manufacturers.

The panel is reportedly concerned about data from studies of breast, lung, lymphoid, and throat cancers which suggest that erythropoietin caused "tumor promotion" and shortened the lives of some cancer patients.

Erythropoietin received approval from the FDA in 1988 for use in patients with kidney failure and then again in 1993 for use in cancer patients who become anemic from chemotherapy.

The drugs which are known generically as darbepoetin and epoetin, are thought to be used by almost a half-million cancer patients a year in the United States.

Erythropoietin is sold under the brand name Aransep and is produced by drug company Johnson & Johnson.

The advisory panel is recommending that the FDA garner far more information with regard to the safety of erythropoietin, but has stopped short of calling for specific changes to instructions on how to use the drug.

Erythropoietin is a hormone released by the kidneys that is used to stimulate red blood cell production in bone marrow.