Prostate Cancer and Avodart

Avodart may help lower prostate cancer risk in men at high risk.
NBC Nightly News (3/31, story 4, 2:20, Bazell) reported, "Drug giant GlaxoSmithKline, which makes Avodart [dutasteride],is asking the FDA to allow sales of the drug for a new use, to reduce cancer risk. The head of" a new "study which was paid for by the company agrees." Dr. Gerald Andriole, Washington University, was shown saying, "It reduces a man's chance of being diagnosed with prostate cancer."
The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed that "men at an above-normal risk of prostate cancer may be able to reduce their risk of developing the disease by taking" the drug, the Los Angeles Times (4/1, Maugh) reports. Researchers found that "the drug dutasteride" lowered "the risk of prostate cancer by about a quarter in high-risk men."
But, the study also showed that "heart failure developed in 30 men on the drug versus only 16 on dummy pills," the AP (4/1, Marchione) reports. Upon further analysis, researchers found "that men who developed heart failure while on Avodart also tended to be taking certain other drugs, said Glaxo spokeswoman Sarah Alspach." Dr. Barnett Kramer, a National Institutes of Health scientist, noted that "the important detail is there's a heart failure signal here that was unanticipated."