Prostate cancer drug rejected by FDA panel

WASHINGTON The Food and Drug Administration panel said the risk of Merck's Proscar causing patients to develop more aggressive tumors outweighed any benefit it had on low-grade tumors, which are less often fatal.

Studies showed the drug to reduce low-grade tumors by 25 percent, but a small number of men actually developed more aggressive tumors.

GlaxoSmithKline is set to present a similar drug for approval in the near future.

The FDA is not required to follow the recommendations of the panel but usually does.