Reassurance amid drug cancer fear

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A US study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found higher rates of cancer among patients prescribed Inegy. The pill combines a widely-used statin called simvastatin, which blocks cholesterol in the liver, with another drug, ezetimibe.

The study found higher rates of cancer among those using the drug compared to patients taking a placebo.

Around 300,000 prescriptions for Inegy have been dispensed in the last two years in Britain.

But the British Heart Foundation sought to reassure those taking the drug, saying regulators would act quickly if hard evidence of risk emerged.

Dr Mike Knapton, director of prevention and care at the British Heart Foundation, said patients who were concerned about the risk should speak to their GPs.

He pointed to research by Oxford University academics which combined three studies of the drug and found there was no increased risk of cancer. And he called for closer study of patients using the combination drug.

"At the moment it's not clear if there is a risk. It would be a disaster if, on one hand, a drug which benefits patients gets shelved. On the other hand, we don't want to give large numbers of patients a drug which has got an increased risk of cancer associated with it."

He added: "The data from the big trials are encouraging but the evidence is not yet conclusive, because many of the patients studied have been followed up for a relatively short period of time so far.

"Because one study did show a cancer risk, it is crucial that others continue and are monitored closely to definitively confirm or refute any link. People should be reassured that drug regulators will act quickly if robust evidence of risk to patient health appears."