WASHINGTON (Reuters) – More than a dozen drugs including a cancer therapy and a bowel medicine are under early scrutiny for potential side effects, U.S. regulators said in a quarterly list released on Thursday.

The Food and Drug Administration said it was investigating cases of liver failure in patients treated with Pfizer Inc’s cancer drug Sutent. The agency also is reviewing gastrointestinal perforation reported with Relistor, a drug from Wyeth and Progenics Pharmaceuticals for treating opioid-induced constipation.

Appearing on the list “means that FDA has identified a potential safety issue, but does not mean that FDA has identified a causal relationship between the drug and the listed risk,” the agency said.

The list, which covers risks identified between January and March 2009, was posted here

(Reporting by Lisa Richwine, editing by Carol Bishopric)

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