Zometa Offers Three Years of Bone Benefit

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A study released Thursday afternoon reported that Zometa (zoledronic acid), a type of bisphosphonate, appears to increase bone mineral density among women receiving aromatase inhibitors, and the benefit lasts for at least three years.

Scientists have known that aromatase inhibitors, which block estrogen production in post-menopausal women, can accelerate bone loss and raise the risk of fracture. Doctors are now testing whether drugs that treat osteoporosis might offset the bone-thinning tendencies of cancer treatment.

At SABCS, Adam Brufsky, MD, from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, reported that the benefit of Zometa appears to hold up for three years. His research team enrolled 602 women with early-stage breast cancer. Half of the women received infusions of Zometa two times a year from the beginning of their treatment. The other half had their bone density monitored, and received the drug only if the density fell below a certain level.

After 36 months, the women who had received Zometa upfront had experienced a 4 percent increase in spine density. The women who had received no or delayed treatment had a 3 percent drop in bone density. “I’m not quite ready to say that every woman should get it at this point,” Dr. Brufsky says, but experts are developing recommendations.