NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Postmenopausal women treated for osteoporosis with the selective estrogen receptor modulator lasofoxifene have a reduced risk of coronary heart disease events, researchers report in Circulation for October 26.

Lasofoxifen has been approved by the EMEA for the treatment of osteoporosis but is yet to be approved by the US Food and Drug Administration.

In the current study, Dr. Kristine Ensrud with the VA Medical Center, Minneapolis and the University of Minnesota, and colleagues evaluated 5-year results from the PEARL (Postmenopausal Evaluation and Risk Reduction With Lasofoxifene) trial.

In the trial, 8556 women with osteoporosis received lasofoxifene 0.25 mg/d, lasofoxifene 0.5 mg/d, or placebo for 5 years. During that time, 95 women (3.3%) in the placebo group, 73 women (2.6%) in the lasofoxifene 0.25 mg/d group, and 65 women (2.3%) in the lasofoxifene 0.5 mg/d group experienced at least one major CHD event.

Compared with placebo, the reduction in CHD events with lasofoxifene 0.25 mg/d was not significant. However, with lasofoxifene 0.5 mg/d the hazard ratio of 0.68 for major CHD events was significant.

Regarding component events comprising the composite end point, reductions in hospitalization for unstable angina (HR 0.55) and new ischemic heart disease (HR 0.52)