Bone Drugs Could Reduce Risk Of Breast Cancer Spreading, Recurring, Study Finds

Main Category: Breast Cancer
Also Included In: Bones / Orthopedics
Article Date: 13 Feb 2009 - 5:00 PDT

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A class of drugs used to fight bone loss could reduce the risk of breast cancer spreading or recurring by one-third, according to a study published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine, the New York Times reports. The study involved 1,803 premenopausal women with breast cancer whose tumors were fueled by estrogen. All of the women received drugs that prevented their ovaries from producing estrogen, as well as drugs that prevented cancer cells from using estrogen to grow. Half of the women also received the bone drug zoledronic acid, or Zometa, intravenously twice annually for three years. The women who received zoledronic acid had a 36% reduction in breast cancer recurrence and metastases, compared with the women who did not receive the drug. In addition, the study found that after four years, 54 of the women who received zoledronic acid had a recurrence of cancer or a new cancer in the opposite breast or a metastasis to their bones, compared with 83 of the women who did not receive the drug.

According to the Times, some cancer researchers are waiting for the results of two other large studies on bone drugs and breast cancer before recommending that all women with breast cancer receive zoledronic acid or similar drugs. The studies, which are nearing completion, include both premenopausal and postmenopausal women, and results are expected within the next few years, the Times reports. According to the Times, if the study results are confirmed by further research, it could indicate that zoledronic acid could be as beneficial to standard breast cancer treatment as chemotherapy or hormonal therapy alone. James Ingle, head of the breast cancer research program at the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center, said the study results are a "reason for real enthusiasm" but added, "I think it is the general consensus that we are not ready to make this standard treatment."

Marc Lippman, chair of the department of medicine at the University of Miami, said that many women who are taking hormonal therapy for breast cancer already take bone drugs to counteract the effects of hormonal therapy, which can cause bone loss. Lippman suggested these women receive zoledronic acid. The study results are "something of a mitzvah," Lippman said, adding, "The very therapy you might want to do to counteract the toxicity" of hormonal therapy "has an additional advantage."

Michael Gnant, lead study author and a researcher at the Medical University of Vienna, said, "While everyone is very excited, we still need to be conservative about what we recommend to patients," adding, "In clinical science, we do clinical trials. I am still hesitating to say, 'Well, this is good for everyone.' In the history of science we sometimes extrapolated and turned out to be absolutely wrong. The right way to proceed is to wait for data to come in from other studies" (Kolata, New York Times, 2/12).

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