Effexor Eases Hot Flashes in Breast Ca Patients : Drug is more effective than clonidine, but does not match a single dose of medroxyprogesterone acetate.
His group recommended discussing risks and benefits with patients. Dr. Loprinzi said he believes that risk is minimal because MPA has a half-life of 50 days.
“It is a short-term thing,” he said. “I think it allows women to gradually go through menopause.”
Black Cohosh Flunks Phase III Trial
Black cohosh, a popular herbal remedy, failed to reduce hot flashes in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase III crossover trial presented in another poster at the meeting.
Barbara Pockaj, M.D., and her colleagues reported that the average decrease in hot flash scores was larger in placebo users (27%) than in those who received 20 mg of black cohosh daily (20%).
At the end of the 9-week study, 36 (37%) of the 97 patients completing the study preferred placebo, 31 patients (32%) favored black cohosh, and 30 patients (30%) had no preference. The other 19 patients evaluated in the study were listed as missing. The study included breast cancer patients and women with a perceived risk of breast cancer.
Toxicity results gave a slight edge to black cohosh, with no adverse events reported by 87% of patients on the herbal remedy and 77% on placebo.
None of the findings reached statistical significance, Dr. Pockaj of the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Ariz., said in an interview.
“Based on this, I see no reason to take black cohosh,” Dr. Pockaj said. “It has no effect at all, not even a suggestion.”
Black cohosh is the leading hot flash treatment in Germany, said Dr. Loibl, whose German Breast Group study showed venlafaxine to be effective for hot flashes. “I am very happy that this trial has been done finally, because it shows it [black cohosh] has no effect,” she told this newspaper.
Nonetheless, she predicted that physicians would continue to recommend the herbal remedy. Venlafaxine is not approved for hot flashes, whereas black cohosh is available over the counter, Dr. Loibl noted.
