Salmon-Derived Osteoporosis Drugs Face Upstream Struggle Against Cancer Concerns

A March 5 joint meeting of the FDA advisory committees for Reproductive Health Drugs and Drug Safety and Risk Management will consider whether the benefit of taking calcitonin salmon, a hormone that increases the amount of calcium in the bones, to treat postmenopausal osteoporosis outweighs the potential risk of cancer; in July 2012, the European Medicines Agency concluded the risk with long-term use was too great and eliminated the osteoporosis indication for calcitonins.