title: Aromatase inhibitor treatment for breast cancer: short-term effect on bone health.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Aim of this study was to examine the effects of aromatase inhibitors (AIs), which are used in every phase of breast cancer treatment, on the bone mineral density (BMD) of patients with early-stage breast cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  Menopausal female patients who were diagnosed with stages 1-3 breast cancer and who were planned for anastrazole or letrozole as adjuvant therapy were examined. After the patients' BMD was measured, 45 patients without osteoporosis were included in the study. Six months after AI therapy started, the patients' BMD was measured again.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In this study, we tried to show that there was a statistical difference in the BMD of 45 patients before and 6 months after treatment. Among all measurements (femur and lumbar T-scores), the femur Z-score (p = 0.52) was the only score that was not statistically significant. Statistical significance (p < 0.01) was detected in comparative analysis of the other measurements. According to this analysis, a significant loss of BMD was seen even in the first six months after AI treatment was introduced.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Female patients with breast cancer are at higher risk for bone loss and fractures than healthy women. In this study, we showed the negative effects on BMD of aromatase inhibitor therapy, one of the main contributions to osteoporosis in women with breast cancer. This study is the first to quantify the short-term effect of AI treatment on BMD in postmenopausal women with breast cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty Of Medicine, Kocaeli University, Kocaeli, Turkey.
authors.forename: Gökhan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Erbağ
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Faculty Of Medicine, Kocaeli University, Kocaeli, Turkey.
authors.forename: Kazım
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Uygun
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty Of Medicine, Kocaeli University, Kocaeli, Turkey.
authors.forename: Emine
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Binnetoğlu
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Kocaeli State Hospital, Kocaeli, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ayşe Nurdan
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Korkmaz
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty Of Medicine, Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Çanakkale, Turkey.
authors.forename: Mehmet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aşık
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty Of Medicine, Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Çanakkale, Turkey.
authors.forename: Hacer
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Şen
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty Of Medicine, Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Çanakkale, Turkey.
authors.forename: Fahri
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Güneş
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty Of Medicine, Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Çanakkale, Turkey.
authors.forename: Mustafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Eroğlu
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, Faculty of Medicine, Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Çanakkale, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ferhat
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gökmen
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Faculty Of Medicine, Kocaeli University, Kocaeli, Turkey.
authors.forename: Süleyman
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Temiz
keywords: aromatase inhibitor; bone mineral density; breast cancer; osteoporosis