Texas Pancreatic Cancer Lawyer: Persons Taking Diabetes Drugs Including Januvia, Janument, Victoza, Byetta, Onglyza, Tradjenta, Bydureon, Oseni, and Other Diabetes Drugs Should Be Aware of Cancer Risk by Texas Pancreatic Cancer Lawyer Jason S. Coomer
Recent scientific studies have shown that several diabetes drugs may
cause an increased risk of pancreatic cancer. Persons taking Januvia,
Janument, Victoza, Byetta, Onglyza, Tradjenta, Bydureon, Oseni, and
other diabetes drugs should be aware of the potential dangers. If you are taking these diabetes drugs, it is important to discuss the potential health risks with your medical providers and to be aware of any symptoms of pancreatic cancer you may experience. For more information on this topic, please go to the following web page:
Pancreatic Cancer Health Risk Caused by Diabetes Drugs.
Pancreatic Cancer Detection: Understanding and Identifying Symptoms of
Pancreatic Cancer Can Be Important In Early Detection and Treatment of
Pancreatic Cancer Resulting in Higher Pancreatic Cancer Survival Rates
Symptoms of pancreatic cancer can include: dark urine and
clay-colored stools, fatigue and weakness, jaundice (a yellow color in the
skin, mucus membranes, or eyes), loss of appetite and weight loss, nausea
and vomiting, pain or discomfort in the upper part of the belly or abdomen,
back pain, blood clots, diarrhea, and indigestion.
Pancreatic cancer is often not detected
early on and is often advanced when it is first found.
As such, ninety-five percent of the people diagnosed with
this cancer will not be alive 5 years later. Some
patients have pancreatic cancer that can be surgically
removed are cured. However, in more than 80% of patients the
tumor has already spread and cannot be completely removed at
the time of diagnosis. In the few cases where
pancreatic tumors can be removed by surgery. The standard
surgical procedure to remove pancreatic tumors is called a
Whipple procedure (pancreatoduodenectomy or
pancreaticoduodenectomy). This surgery should be done by an
experienced surgeon and at a medical center that performs
the procedure often. Some studies suggest that the Whipple
procedure is best performed at hospitals that do more than
five of these surgeries per year.
When the tumor has not spread out of the
pancreas, but cannot be removed, radiation therapy and
chemotherapy together may be recommended. When the tumor has
spread (metastasized) to other organs such as the liver,
chemotherapy alone is usually used. The standard
chemotherapy drug is gemcitabine, but other drugs may be
used. Gemcitabine can help about 25% of patients.
Patients whose tumor cannot be totally
removed, but who have a blockage of the tubes that transport
bile (biliary obstruction) must have that blockage relieved.
There are two approaches including surgery and placement of
a tiny metal tube (biliary stent) during ERCP.
Managing pain and other symptoms is an
important part of treating advanced pancreatic cancer.
Palliative care tams and hospice can help with pain and
symptom management, and provide psychological support for
patients and their families during the illness.
Incretin Diabetes Drugs May Cause An Increased Risk of Pancreatic Cancer
Diabetes drugs in the incretin mimetic class may cause an increased
health risk of pancreatic cancer and pancreatitis. These incretin
diabetes drug include exenatide (Byetta, Bydureon), liraglutide
(Victoza), sitagliptin (Januvia, Janumet, Janumet XR, Juvisync),
saxagliptin (Onglyza, Kombiglyze XR), alogliptin (Nesina, Kazano,
Oseni), and linagliptin (Tradjenta, Jentadueto). These drugs work by
mimicking the incretin hormones that the body usually produces naturally
to stimulate the release of insulin in response to a meal. They are
used along with diet and exercise to lower blood sugar in adults with
type 2 diabetes. Many of these incretin diabetes drugs already include a
black box warning regarding thyroid cancer risk, but evidence is
growing that these drugs may also create an increased risk of pancreatic
cancer. People that are taking incretin diabetes drugs including: Januvia,
Janument, Victoza, Byetta, Onglyza, Tradjenta, Oseni, and other
diabetes drugs should be aware of the cancer health risks.