New heart treatment is biggest breakthrough since statins, scientists say
Anti-inflammatory
injections could lower the risk of heart attacks and may slow the progression
of cancer, a study has found, in what researchers say is the biggest
breakthrough since the discovery of statins. Heart attack survivors
given injections of a targeted anti-inflammatory drug called canakinumab had
fewer attacks in the future, scientists found. Cancer deaths were also halved
in those treated with the drug, which is normally used only for rare
inflammatory conditions.
Statins are the
mainstay drugs for heart attack prevention and work primarily by lowering
cholesterol levels. But a quarter of people who have one heart attack will
suffer another within five years despite taking statins regularly. It is
believed this is because of unchecked inflammation within the heart’s arteries. The research team, led
from Brigham and Women’s hospital in Boston, tested whether targeting the
inflammation with a potent anti-inflammatory agent would provide an extra
benefit over statin treatment.
The researchers
enrolled more than 10,000 patients who had had a heart attack and had a
positive blood test for inflammation into the trial, known as the Cantos study.
All patients received high doses of statins as well as either canakinumab or a
placebo, both administered by injection every three months. The trial lasted
for four years.
For patients who
received the canakinumab injections the team reported a 15% reduction in the
risk of a cardiovascular event, including fatal and non-fatal heart attacks and
strokes. Also, the need for expensive interventional procedures, such as bypass
surgery and inserting stents, was cut by more than 30%. There was no overall
difference in death rates between patients on canakinumab and those given
placebo injections, and the drug did not change cholesterol levels. Dr Paul Ridker, who
led the research team, said the study “usher in a new era of therapeutics”. read more..
