Pamidronate prevents cancer treatment bone loss
Pamidronate prevents bone loss in men receiving treatment
for prostate cancer, researchers say.
Dr Matthew Smith, Massachusetts General Hospital,
Boston, and colleagues investigated whether the bisphosphonate pamidronate
prevented bone loss in 41 men receiving leuprorelin, a gonadotrophin-releasing
hormone agonist. Loss of bone mineral density and osteoporosis are important
complications of such therapy.
All men received leuprorelin and half were additionally
assigned pamidronate. After 48 weeks, there were significant differences
between the two groups in changes in bone mineral density. In men treated
with leuprorelin alone, mean bone mineral density decreased by 3.3 per
cent in the lumbar spine, 2.1 per cent in the trochanter (part of the
thigh bone) and 1.8 per cent in the total hip. In contrast, there were
no significant changes in bone mineral density at any site in men treated
with leuprorelin and pamidronate.
The authors comment: “Because low bone mineral density
is an important determinant of the risk of fracture, these findings suggest
that pamidronate may reduce that risk in men receiving a gonadotrophin-releasing
hormone agonist.” They add that pamidronate may also represent a valuable
alternative to testosterone replacement therapy for the prevention of
hypogonadal bone loss in men with contraindications to testosterone treatment
(New England Journal of Medicine 2001;345:948).
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