A new study from the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center has revealed a major side effect of the oral medication alpelisib that is prescribed to breast cancer patients.
The research, published by Wiley in the peer-reviewed American Cancer Society journal CANCER, found that the drug has caused elevated blood sugar rates, or hyperglycemia, in some people.
Among 147 patients who were treated with alpelisib, the rate of hyperglycemia was 80.3%, according to a press release summarizing the study.
The rate of serious hyperglycemia in these cases was 40.2%.
