Meta Analysis supports no increased risk of cancer by use of Lantus (Sanofi-Aventis)

A new meta-analysis in relation to Lantus( insulin glargine) was presented at the World Diabetes Congress in Dubai, which added to "the wealth of evidence resulting from more than 80,000 patients enrolled in clinical trials and 38 million patient years of treatment exposure to Lantus (insulin glargine)". The figures are derived from databases as well as from clinical trials and from a case-control study in numerous countries (such as Sweden, Germany, Scotland, England and Taiwan) which assessed the risk for cancer in individuals with diabetes using different insulins. Peter Boyle, the study's lead investigator and president of the International Prevention Research Institute in Lyon, France, said the meta-analysis "highlights the need to go beyond single study reports and utilise all available data". He added that �in the context of all available information, the current evidence supports that insulin glargine is associated with no increased risk of cancer as compared to other insulin therapies. These findings are reassuring for patients and their physicians." However a study presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium suggested that people who used Lantus had a 2.9-fold greater risk of developing cancer. The research, based on medical records of 23,266 patients in southern Sweden, also found that those taking metformin had an 8% lower chance of developing cancer.The study was criticised by Sanofi as "flawed" in methodology.