Scroll Up
Scroll Down
Play Play Play Play
Unregistered User
Click here if this is not your Personal Edition
 
Contact Us | Free E-Mail Updates | Journals | Register a colleague
 
 
Breast Cancer
 
   
 
SEARCH   
Doctor's Guide Free CME
Medline
Congress Resource Centre
 

 EXPLORE :
   Most Read News
 All News  All News
 All Webcasts / CME  All Webcasts / CME
 All Cases  All Cases
 Congress Resource Centre  Congress Resource Centre
 All Medical Resources  All Medical Resources
 Medical  My Personal Edition



Warning | Privacy

 

 
 Recent news - Breast Cancer
    TopAbstracts in Breast Cancer 10/07/2008 - (DGNews)
    Second Lumpectomy for Breast Cancer Reduces Survival Rates - (DGNews)
    TopAbstracts in Breast Cancer 09/30/2008 - (DGNews)
    Breast Imaging Before Chemotherapy Predicts Need for Radiation: Presented at ASTRO - (DGDispatch)
    Nodal Radiation May Be Unnecessary After Mastectomy: Presented at ASTRO - (DGDispatch)

    News archive

     Recent webcasts/CME - Breast Cancer

    Webcasts/CME archive

     Recent cases - Breast Cancer
      Granular Cell Tumour of the Pectoral Muscle Mimicking Breast Cancer
      Primary Osteosarcoma of the Breast: Case Report
      A Case of Matrix-Producing Carcinoma of the Breast
      Metastatic Hurthle Cell Carcinoma of the Thyroid Presenting as a Breast Lump: A Case Report
      Paraneoplastic Cerebellar Degeneration as a Presentation of Breast Cancer - A Case Report and Review of the Literature

      Cases archive
        




      my personal edition > breast cancer > news
      divider

        E-Mail this DGDispatch to a colleague

      DGDispatch


      Zoledronic Acid Plus Letrozole Concurrent Treatment Prevents Bone Loss: Presented at SABCS

      By Ed Susman

      SAN ANTONIO, TX -- December 18, 2006 -- Postmenopausal women taking adjuvant letrozole should also take concurrent zoledronic acid to prevent aromatase inhibitor-induced bone loss, researchers said here at the 29th Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS).

      "These women are taking a double hit on their bones -- they are postmenopausal and they are taking aromatase inhibitors -- so they are at extra risk of suffering osteoporosis, and need a preventive agent such as Zometa," said Mei Dong, MD, a clinical research scientist, Novartis Oncology, East Hanover, New Jersey.

      In her presentation in a poster session on December 14th, Dr. Dong detailed how her research team enrolled, 1667 women involved in 2 studies, 1 in North America and the other in Europe, Latin America, Australia, and Asia.

      The women were divided into 2 groups; 833 women were administered the intravenous bisphosphonate zoledronic acid (Zometa) 4 mg every 6 months concurrently with oral letrozole (Femara) 25 mg daily; 834 women taking Femara did not receive zoledronic acid until after imaging scan indicating bone loss or if they suffered symptomatic or asymptomatic nontraumatic fractures.

      After 6 months, women taking the bisphosphonate therapy upfront had increased bone density by 1.5% at the lumbar spine compared with a 1.8% loss in bone density among patients not receiving the additional treatment.

      After 12 months, patients receiving bisphosphonate therapy had increased bone density by 2% compared with a 3% loss in bone density among women in the delayed bisphosphonate group. The difference at 12 months reached statistical significance at the P < .001 level, Dr. Dong reported.

      After 6 months, women taking the bisphosphonate therapy upfront had increased bone density by 0.8% at the hip compared with a 1.3% loss in bone density among patients not receiving the additional treatment.

      Bone density after 12 months had increased by 2.2% in patients receiving bisphosphonate therapy compared with a 2.1% loss among women in the delayed bisphosphonate group. The difference at 12 months reached statistical significance at the P < .001level, Dr. Dong said.

      One patient in the concurrent treatment group suffered grade 2 renal impairment believed to be the result of the treatment; 2 women in the delayed group had grade 3/4 renal impairment, but in neither case was kidney impairment assigned to zoledronic acid treatment.

      About 1.5% of patients in the concurrent treatment group discontinued due to serious adverse events compared with 1.0% of patients on the delayed treatment schedule.

      In the 12-month period, 10.7% of the delayed treatment patients began zoledronic acid treatment, Dr. Dong said.


      [Presentation title: An Integrated Analysis of Zoledronic Acid (ZA) for Prevention of Aromatase Inhibitor Associated Bone Loss (AIBL) in Postmenopausal Women (PMW) With Early Breast Cancer (BCa) Receiving Adjuvant Letrozole (LET).]



      E-Mail this DGDispatch to a colleague   To print, use this version






      All contents Copyright (c) 1995-2008 Doctor's Guide Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.



      The NTK initiative. Physicians helping physicians identify Need-To-Know science
         Feedback
      Please rate this article: Strongly DISAGREE...Strongly AGREE NTK logo
      Question 1 - Physicians need to become aware of this information as soon as possible. Question 2 - This information is likely to have an impact on the way physicians practice medicine.
      1
      2
      3
      4
      5
      6
      7
      Send