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Breast cancer chemo side effects elevated
Wed Aug 16, 2006 1:08 PM BST166
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By Lisa Richwine
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Chemotherapy drugs may cause more serious side effects for breast cancer patients under age 64 than once thought, a U.S. study released on Tuesday said.
Researchers mined insurance claims for 3,526 women who had intravenous chemotherapy for breast cancer and tallied problems serious enough to require emergency care or a hospital stay.
Their review found more than 8 percent of women underwent treatment for a fever or infection compared with less than 2 percent reported in an earlier review of clinical trials.
Other problems also occurred more frequently than previously estimated, said the study by researchers at Harvard Medical School and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
For example, 5.5 percent of women were reported to have low blood counts that could raise the risk of infection or bleeding, the new study showed. The rates were less than 1 percent or 2 percent in clinical trials.
Overall, 16 percent of women in the new study had at least one of eight side effects that required emergency care or hospitalization. Side effects also included blood clots, dehydration, nausea and diarrhea. All of the women were 63 or younger.
Researchers did not see any evidence that the side effects shortened lifespan, lead author Dr. Michael Hassett said.
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