Cancer Drug Benefits May Be Eroded by Other Medications

As many as 74 percent of patients on targeted cancer drugs have taken other medicines that may limit the cancer therapy’s effectiveness or cause toxic side effects, a study found.

Researchers at Medco Health Solutions Inc. found that 23 percent to 57 percent of patients on targeted cancer drugs were also prescribed medicines that may have blunted the effect of the cancer treatment. Twenty-four percent to 74 percent of the patients received drugs that may have added toxic side effects when used at the same time as the cancer therapies.