Zoledronic acid reduces bone effects of cancer
Zoledronic acid (Zometa) reduces the incidence of cancer-related
bone complications (skeletal related events) in patients with multiple
myeloma or breast cancer, new research shows.
Dr Lee Rosen, Jonsson Cancer Centre, University
of California at Los Angeles, and colleagues conducted a trial involving
1,648 patients with either stage III multiple myeloma or advanced breast
cancer to compare the efficacy of zoledronic acid with pamidronate (Aredia).
Patients were randomised to receive either 4mg or 8mg zoledronic acid
via 15-minute intravenous infusion or 90mg pamidronate via two-hour intravenous
infusion. All treatments were given every three to four weeks for 12 months.
The higher dose of zoledronic acid did not provide added efficacy and
was associated with reduced tolerability, they say.
The researchers found that the proportion of patients
experiencing at least one skeletal-related event over 13 months was similar
in each treatment group. However, patients treated with 4mg zoledronic
acid were less likely to receive radiation therapy to bone than patients
treated with pamidronate (15 versus 20 per cent, P=0.031). Zoledronic
acid (4mg) and pamidronate were found to be equally well tolerated and
the incidence of the most common adverse events — bone pain, nausea, fatigue,
and fever — was similar in both treatment groups.
The researchers suggest that the optimum dosing
regimen for zoledronic acid, based on the risk-benefit profile of the
drug, is 4mg via a 15-minute infusion. "The potential benefits of the
shorter infusion time compared with pamidronate include greater patient
convenience and less nurse monitoring," the authors conclude.
Results from the study, which is published in The
Cancer Journal (2001;7:377), were presented at the European Cancer
Conference in Lisbon on 21 October.
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