Urgent warning over 'heightmaxxing' trend where teenagers take cancer drugs to grow taller

Experts are urgently warning parents over a 'heightmaxxing' trend where teenagers take cancer drugs in an effort to boost their height.Teenagers, primarily boys, are reportedly taking erdafitinib – also called 'ERDA' or 'Erta' – a drug used to treat a specific form of bladder cancer.Reports say teenagers are purchasing the medication in the hopes that it will help them grow taller after reading posts about its alleged height-boosting effects online.Doctors have urged teenagers not to take the cancer medication, warning it could lead to lifelong complications and may not actually make them any taller. Dr Stephanie Widmer, an emergency medicine physician in New York City, told Fox News Digital: 'It's extremely concerning that teenagers are experimenting with powerful cancer medications in an attempt to grow taller.'These drugs were developed to treat serious medical conditions, not to enhance physical appearance, and taking them without a legitimate medical indication or physician supervision can have devastating consequences.'Doctors also warned that taking the medication could lead to damage to bone growth plates, bone fractures, pain and organ damage.Erdafitinib, sold under the brand name Balversa, is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat certain forms of advanced bladder cancer. Doctors have warned teenage boys have turned to a bladder cancer drug in hopes it could make them taller The drug works by blocking the activity of a growth-driving protein found in bladder cancer tumors, and cells throughout the body, slowing the growth of tumors.But previous research has suggested that the drug may also speed bone growth in children and teenagers, potentially leading to them growing taller. Some scientists have disputed this research. The medication is only available via prescription and is linked to numerous side effects including vision damage, nosebleeds, skin and nail changes and severe muscle and bone pain.But reports say that teenagers have still been able to purchase the drug from online vendors based overseas.Manufactured by Johnson & Johnson, the drug was approved in 2019 for treating bladder cancer. It's used when patients fail at least one prior therapy.It's specifically aimed at the bladder cancer urothelial carcinoma, which is behind about 90 percent of the 84,000 cancer cases recorded in the US annually. According to Rolling Stone, one 17-year-old, named only as Zak, told the publication he had purchased the drug online in the hopes of growing taller, spending $300 for a month's supply.He told the outlet that he grew several inches between ages 15 and 17 while on the medication, but it caused severe bouts of joint pain and nosebleeds. It eventually led him to fear he would need to be hospitalized. It's unclear if erdafitinib actually increases height, but its side effects - such as nosebleeds and severe pain - are well-documented'I was literally saving money every single day. I was putting money aside from my work and everything just for a medical bill from erda,' he told Rolling Stone. Another 17-year-old named James told the outlet that the drug had turned his fingernails yellow with pus oozing out of them. He claims he grew around three inches in two months after starting the erdafitinib in late August.'I was five foot five, so it was pretty bad. So then I just knew that there had to be something that could make me taller,' he said. In a comment to the publication, Johnson & Johnson said that the drug 'has not been approved to increase height, and its safety and effectiveness have not been established for that purpose or for use in any children or adolescents.'Doctors have also warned it is not clear whether the drug will actually increase a teenager's height.Rumors that it could boost height come from a 2024 study, in the journal Hormone Research in Paediatrics, which found unexpected growth spurts in children taking erdafitinib for central nervous system tumors.During puberty, bone growth occurs at growth plates, areas of cartilage near the ends of bones. The speed of growth is controlled by a naturally-produced substance called FGFR3. But, in this study, scientists suggested that this substance could be blocked by erdafitinib, leading to growth spurts. Dr Adalbert Raimann, a pediatric endocrinologist at the Medical University of Vienna in Austria and one of the study authors, warned, however, that taking the drug posed serious risks. 'And those receptors we’re targeting with ERDA, they’re present in basically every cell,' he told Rolling Stone. 'So we have no idea, not in adults and especially not in kids in this developing system, what we are doing in five to 10 years.'After puberty, the growth plates close and cannot be reopened, meaning the drug is unlikely to affect the speed of bone growth.Widmer said: 'One of the biggest concerns is that these medications can cause serious side effects, including potentially permanent vision damage, elevated phosphate levels and other metabolic abnormalities.'We’re talking about adolescents whose bodies are still developing, and exposing them to these risks for a cosmetic goal is particularly troubling.' Widmer added: 'We should be encouraging teenagers to prioritize their health, not teaching them to gamble with it.'No amount of additional height is worth risking permanent damage to your vision or other serious and potentially unknown medical complications.'