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Zoledronic Acid Boosts Survival in Lung Cancer Patients With High N-Telopeptide Levels: Presented at ECCO

By Jill Stein

BARCELONA, SPAIN -- September 24, 2007 -- Zoledronic acid treatment appears to improve survival in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and high levels of N-telopeptide, according to data reported here at the 14th European Cancer Conference (ECCO).

What's more, several variables are independently correlated with improved survival in NSCLC patients with high baseline N-telopeptide levels, researchers reported in a presentation on September 24th.

Pierre Major, MD, Medical Oncologist, Juravinski Cancer Centre, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, and colleagues examined the effect of several baseline variables and treatment regimens on survival in 144 patients with NSCLC who had bone metastases and high baseline N-telopeptide levels. In the study, these patients were randomized to 21 months of treatment with zoledronic acid or placebo.

Among NSCLC patients, the association between zoledronic acid treatment and survival was significantly different for patients with high versus low N-telopeptide levels (P =.020), with a relative risk (RR) of 1.34 (P =.205); among patients with normal and high N-telopeptide levels the RR was.67 (P =.034).

At baseline, patients with NSCLC and high N-telopeptide levels had a median age of 64 years, about three quarters had experienced at least one skeletal-related event, and slightly more than three quarters of these patients required narcotic therapy. Fifteen percent had some impairment of Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status (PS), and the majority had lymphopenia.

The results of a full multivariate analysis identified four covariates that correlated significantly with survival outcomes in patients with high N-telopeptide levels. These included zoledronic acid treatment (RR =.565, P =.005), no narcotics required (RR =.569, P =.016), higher ECOG PS (RR =.515, P =.012), and higher lymphocyte count (RR =.977, P =.011).

"These analyses provide compelling evidence that zoledronic acid treatment is an independent variable for improved survival compared with placebo in patients with NSCLC and elevated N-telopeptide levels," Dr. Major observed.

The treatment benefit, he said, is in addition to the effects of chemotherapy because all patients in the trial were receiving standard antineoplastic therapy.

Zoledronic acid is currently the only bisphosphonate approved for use by patients with bone metastases from NSCLC and demonstrated efficacy for reducing the risk of skeletal-related events in this setting.


[Presentation title: Zoledronic Acid Treatment May Improve Survival in Patients With Bone Metastases From Lung Cancer and High Baseline N-telopeptide Levels: A Multivariate Cox Regression Analysis. Abstract Number 51]

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