[Dapagliflozin. Lowering blood glucose levels by increasing glucosuria].
The antidiabetic drug dapagliflozin lowers blood glucose levels by a novel mechanism: It increases the excretion of glucose via the kidneys. In clinical trials, HbA1c decreased by 0.5 to 0.7 percentage points if dapagliflozin was administered either in monotherapy or combined with other antidiabetic drugs. Common side effects are infections of the urogenital system. It is still unclear why patients in clinical trials suffered more often from cancer. Especially bladder cancer could be observed. However, the increase of cancer cases was not statistically significant. In contrast to the European Medicines Agency, the FDA has not yet approved dapagliflozin for safety reasons.