Panel Suggests Adding Drug Label Warning

Article in the Washington Post — Panel Suggests Adding Drug Label Warning, by Andrew Bridges of the Associated Press:

    Post-menopausal women who take tamoxifen to treat breast cancer face a greater risk of    
    recurrence if they have a specific genetic variation, federal health advisers said
    Wednesday in recommending that a warning be added to the drug’s label.

    Recent studies have found tamoxifen does not work as well in women with breast cancer
    who carry a variant of a gene called CYP2D6. An estimated 7 percent to 10 percent of
    women with breast cancer may have that special form of the gene, which affects how their
    bodies process the drug.

    A panel of Food and Drug Administration advisers recommended the agency change
    tamoxifen’s label to warn post-menopausal women of that potential risk.

BGS