title: Zoledronic acid in the treatment of early-stage breast cancer: is there a final verdict?
abstract: Breast cancer, which preferentially metastasizes to bone, is the most common malignancy among women worldwide and is a leading cause of death. Clinical data from large, phase 3 trials (ie, ABCSG-12, ZO-FAST, and AZURE) demonstrate significantly improved disease-free survival with zoledronic acid in some patient populations with early breast cancer. Although the interim results from the AZURE trial did not show a disease-free survival benefit with zoledronic acid in the overall patient population, subset analyses showed that zoledronic acid significantly improved disease-free survival in women with established postmenopausal status at baseline. Similarly, subset analyses of the ABCSG-12 trial showed greater benefits from zoledronic acid in patients over 40 years of age who theoretically would have achieved more complete ovarian suppression. Together, these data support a potential role for zoledronic acid beyond bone health in breast cancer and suggest that the endocrine environment may influence the anticancer potential of zoledronic acid.
authors: Department of Surgery, Comprehensive Cancer Center, Medical University of Vienna, Währinger Gürtel 18-20, A-1090, Vienna, Austria. michael.gnant@meduniwien.ac.at
authors: Michael
authors: M
authors: Gnant
mesh_terms: D018931:Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D050071:Bone Density Conservation Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D004164:Diphosphonates / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007093:Imidazoles / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015996:Survival Rate; D000077211:Zoledronic Acid
chemical_list: D018931:Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal; D050071:Bone Density Conservation Agents; D004164:Diphosphonates; D007093:Imidazoles; D000077211:Zoledronic Acid