Bone Drug May Prevent Breast Cancer Spread
Posted on: Monday, 19 May 2008, 21:00 CDT
Maintaining bone density could be a key to decreasing the spread of cancer -- metastasis -- in women with advanced breast cancer, U.S. researchers said.
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis said they found that women treated for stage II/III breast cancer -- the primary tumor has spread into lymph nodes or other areas near the breast -- who also received a bone-strengthening drug were less likely to have breast tumor cells growing in their bones after three months.
Lead author Rebecca Aft said the bone-strengthening drug used in the treatment -- zoledronic acid -- decreases bone turnover and reduces bone fractures in patients with osteoporosis.
Tumor cells are continually being released from the primary tumor, Aft said in a statement. It is thought that the bone marrow harbors these cells and that these cells are likely to evolve into metastatic disease.
The researchers randomly assigned 120 women treated for clinical stage II/III breast cancer to receive 4 milligrams of zoledronic acid intravenously every three weeks for one year, starting with their first cycle of chemotherapy, or to receive no zoledronic acid.
The findings are scheduled to be reported June 3 at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting in Chicago.
Source: United Press International
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