Sanofi-Aventis responds to studies suggesting insulin use increases cancer risk

BRIDGEWATER, N.J. Recent studies indicating a possible link between an insulin analog and an increased risk of cancer have drawn a response from the insulin’s manufacturer.

Sanofi-Aventis announced Wednesday the release of a statement by a panel of 14 international experts who assessed the publication of registry analyses of Sanofi’s Lantus (insulin glargine [rDNA]) in the journal Diabetologia.

“Regarding the merits of the published data, we agreed that all four manuscripts have significant methodological limitations and shortcomings,” Oregon Health Sciences University professor of medicine Matthew Riddle said. “The nature of these limitations and their potential magnitude are such that, individually or in aggregate, these studies provide inconsistent and inconclusive results which do not justify new clinical recommendations to patients.”

Sanofi said that the European Medicines Agency, the Food and Drug Administration, the American Diabetes Association and other groups had cautioned against over-interpretation of and overreaction to the data in the studies.