Celebrex Stops Recurrent Adenomas

Two new studies (one here and the other here) from tomorrow's New England Journal of Medicine have demonstrated a reduction in the recurrence of colonic adenomas following polypectomy in folks treated with celecoxib (Celebrex), a COX-2 anti-inflammatory medication manufactured by Pfizer. Unfortunately in both reported studies, the incidence of cardiovascular events in the two studies were increased in the celecoxib-treated groups in a dose-dependent way (Relative risk 1.3-3.4). Bottom line:

"These findings indicate that celecoxib is an effective agent for the prevention of colorectal adenomas but, because of potential cardiovascular events, cannot be routinely recommended for this indication."

--Wes