A hormonelike drug normally used to treat advanced stages of some types of cancer can significantly reduce the number of hot flashes felt by women who have reached menopause, according to a new study.
The results of the study, to be published in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine, showed the drug megestrol acetate may also help men who suffer hot sensations and sweating as a result of treatments for prostate cancer.In women, hot flashes are usually eliminated by treatments with the hormone estrogen. But in those with a history of breast cancer, estrogen treatments may accelerate the growth of a tumor. These patients, together with men who suffer from hormone imbalances because of cancer treatments, may benefit from megestrol acetate, the study found.
The study examined 66 men and 97 women who had an average of six or more daily hot flashes, a term that describes the sensations of a wave of heat passing over the body. Megestrol acetate, manufactured under the brand name Megace by Bristol-Myers Squibb Co, cut the number of hot flashes in half for 74 percent of the volunteers, according to the research team led by Dr. Charles Loprinzi of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.
The only apparent side effect was some vaginal bleeding in 31 percent of the women who were switched to placebo.
However, long-term tests on dogs have suggested that the drug carries a risk of breast cancer. Similar studies with rats and monkeys have shown no link with breast tumors.