Latest Bisphosphonate Stories

Breast cancer patients, individuals at risk for osteoporosis and those undergoing certain types of bone cancer therapies often take drugs containing bisphosphonates. These drugs have been found to place people at risk for developing osteonecrosis of the jaws (a rotting of the jaw bones). Dentists, as well as oncologists, are now using X-rays to detect "ghost sockets" in patients that take these drugs and when these sockets are found, it signals that the jawbone is not healing the...

Researchers at the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, reported Sunday that two compounds in a class of bone-strengthening drugs known as bisphosphonates may protect people exposed to radiation from developing leukemia -- a common long-term side effect of radiation exposure.The scientists said the compounds delayed and in some cases even prevented mice exposed to high doses of radiation from developing leukemia.Alexandra Miller, who has been studying ways to...

New research at Wake Forest University School of Medicine evaluated the link between a common class of drugs used to prevent bone fractures in osteoporosis patients and the development of irregular heartbeat.The study's findings appear in the current issue of Drug Safety, a publication of the International Society of Pharmacovigilance covering the safe and proper use of medicines."Some trials show there could be a potential link between the use of bisphosphonates and the development of...

ADA creates brochures with National Osteoporosis Foundation CHICAGO, March 9 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Dental patients who have been alarmed or confused by recent news reports about how osteoporosis medications might affect their oral health now have a brochure to help them separate fact from fiction. The American Dental Association (ADA) collaborated with the National Osteoporosis Foundation to create the brochure, "Osteoporosis Medications and Your Dental Health," which will be...

ROSEMONT, Ill., Jan. 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons has revised its 2006 landmark position paper on Bisphosphonate-Related Osteonecrosis of the Jaw to reflect the most current research and thought on this condition. BRONJ appears as a non-healing exposed bone in the maxillofacial region and may affect patients undergoing intravenous cancer-related bisphosphonate therapy or more rarely, patients treated with oral or IV...

Study is among first to link short term drug use for osteoporosis to bone deathResearchers at the University Of Southern California, School Of Dentistry release results of clinical data that links oral bisphosphonates to increased jaw necrosis. The study is among the first to acknowledge that even short-term use of common oral osteoporosis drugs may leave the jaw vulnerable to devastating necrosis, according to the report appearing in the January 1 Journal of the American Dental Association...

Adding Zometa to chemotherapy prior to surgery led to an additional 33% reduction in tumor size, resulting in fewer mastectomies New data are first to demonstrate direct effect of Zometa to help shrink primary tumors; further evidence of Zometa as a potential anticancer therapy EAST HANOVER, N.J., Dec. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- New data released today demonstrate that the addition of Zometa(R) (zoledronic acid) injection to standard chemotherapy before breast cancer surgery reduces the size of...

SAN DIEGO, Dec. 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: HALO), a biopharmaceutical company developing and commercializing products targeting the extracellular matrix for the endocrinology, oncology, dermatology, and drug delivery markets, today announced the commencement of patient dosing for a Phase 1 clinical trial for a bisphosphonate administered with Halozyme's recombinant human hyaluronidase enzyme (rHuPH20) as a subcutaneous (SC) injection. This study will...

Medical Reference and Online Edition Gives Coverage of Bone and Mineral Diseases and Disorders with New International Drug Formulary WASHINGTON, Dec. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR), the leading scientific organization for the study of bone diseases, announces the publication of the new seventh edition of the Primer on the Metabolic Bone Diseases and Disorders of Bone and Mineral Metabolism. The new edition reflects the rapid and exciting...

PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- People who take bisphosphonates for osteoporosis may be at risk for serious atrial fibrillation (AF), or irregular heartbeats, according to a new study. The research, presented at CHEST 2008, the 74th annual international scientific assembly of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), shows that people taking alendronate or zoledronic acid, two common medications to prevent or slow the occurrence of osteoporosis, were significantly more likely to...