Onglyza (saxagliptin), a type-2 diabetes medication manufactured by Bristol-Myers Squib, has been associated with a potential risk of pancreatic cancer.

Onglyza is prescribed for lowering blood sugar levels in adult patients with type-2 diabetes. It belongs to a class of drugs class known as incretin mimetics, and was approved for sale in the by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in July 2009.

Onglyza works by increasing the pancreas’s insulin production and reducing the amount of sugar the liver produces when blood sugar levels are too high. Unfortunately, there is growing evidence that the way Onglyza works puts users at an increased risk for pancreatic cancer.

Onglyza Pancreatic Cancer Risks

Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest forms of cancer and can be very difficult to diagnose early.  Patients commonly have the disease for several months before they realize it.

Consequently, the cancer continues to develop undetected in the pancreas until diseased cells reach the lymph system and bloodstream. Usually undiagnosed until its third or fourth stages of metastasis, this cancer has a grim prognosis.

A 2011 study found patients taking a DPP-4 inhibitor, like Onglyza, had 2.7 times as many reported cases of pancreatic cancer than patients taking other diabetes medications.

Further, a 2013 study published in the medical journal Diabetes found evidence supporting a link between diabetes drugs like Onglyza and pancreatic cancer.

In this study, researchers autopsied pancreases of patients who used drugs in the incretin mimetic class, and found evidence of pre-cancerous cellular changes and a massive proliferation of cells in the pancreas, which could lead to pancreatic cancer.

According to researchers: “Since the standard of care of a pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor, because of the risk of conversion to malignancy, even if benign, is surgical resection [i.e. removal], patients exposed to incretin therapy would seem to be at increased risk of requiring pancreatic surgery.”

Within weeks after this study was published online, the FDA published a Drug Safety Communication informing the public the agency was examining new, unpublished research suggesting a possible connection between diabetes medications like Onglyza and pre-cancerous pancreatic growths.

The potential risk of pancreatic cancer is not limited to Onglyza — all drugs in the incretin mimetic class have been associated with this potential risk, because they all treat diabetes in a similar way.

Unfortunately, because the incretin mimetic class has only been around for a few years, there is no data regarding long-term side effects like pancreatic cancer.

If you or a loved one developed pancreatic cancer after taking Onglyza, you may be entitled to compensation by filing an Onglyza lawsuit.