title: Effectiveness of alendronate for bone disorder after gastrectomy for gastric cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Routine therapy of metabolic bone disorder (MBD) after gastrectomy for gastric cancer has not been established yet. We have reported that administering an active vitamin D3 agent to patients who had undergone gastrectomy for gastric cancer improved MBD. Recently, the usefulness of alendronate, an osteoclast inhibitor, has been reported for MBD. Here we report the effects of alendronate for MBD after gastrectomy for gastric cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry was performed consequently in 14 patients, who had been gastrectomized for gastric cancer and survived more than 5 years without recurrence, to evaluate the MBD and compared before and after treatment. The 14 patients were divided into two groups: in group VD3, 1 μg/d of alfacalcidol, an active vitamin D3 agent, was administered; and in group ALN, 5 mg/d or 35 mg/wk of alendronate or both alfacalcidol and alendronate were administered. These drugs had been administered to the patients for > 2 years, and the patients were followed up.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After 12 months, dual energy X-ray absorptiometry revealed that bone mineral density and T score were significantly increased in group ALN. Changes in serum bone-specific alkaline phosphatase after 24 months were -9.1 μg/L in the ALN group and 3.75 μg/L in the VD3 group, showing a significant difference (p = 0.02). No serious adverse events were observed in either group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results showed the usefulness of alendronate and alendronate+activated vitamin D3 combination therapy, suggesting that these treatments might prevent postgastrectomic MBD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Yokohama City University, 3-9, Fukuura, Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, Japan; Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Kanagawa Cancer Center, 2-3-2, Nakao, Asahi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. Electronic address: yosuke31004@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Yosuke
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Atsumi
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Yokohama City University, 3-9, Fukuura, Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, Japan.
authors.forename: Yasushi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Rino
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Kanagawa Cancer Center, 2-3-2, Nakao, Asahi-ku, Yokohama, Japan.
authors.forename: Tsutomu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Kanagawa Cancer Center, 2-3-2, Nakao, Asahi-ku, Yokohama, Japan.
authors.forename: Haruhiko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Kanagawa Cancer Center, 2-3-2, Nakao, Asahi-ku, Yokohama, Japan.
authors.forename: Takaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yoshikawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Yokohama City University, 3-9, Fukuura, Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, Japan.
authors.forename: Naoto
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Yokohama City University, 3-9, Fukuura, Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, Japan.
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Oshima
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Yokohama City University, 3-9, Fukuura, Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, Japan.
authors.forename: Norio
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yukawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Kanagawa Cancer Center, 2-3-2, Nakao, Asahi-ku, Yokohama, Japan.
authors.forename: Manabu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shiozawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Kanagawa Cancer Center, 2-3-2, Nakao, Asahi-ku, Yokohama, Japan.
authors.forename: Soichiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Morinaga
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Yokohama City University, 3-9, Fukuura, Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, Japan.
authors.forename: Munetaka
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Masuda
mesh_terms: D015502:Absorptiometry, Photon / Q000379:methods; D000368:Aged; D019386:Alendronate / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015519:Bone Density / Q000502:physiology; D001851:Bone Diseases, Metabolic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology*; D002762:Cholecalciferol / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005743:Gastrectomy / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D002762:Cholecalciferol; D019386:Alendronate
keywords: activated vitamin D3; alendronate; dual energy X-ray absorptiometry; metabolic bone diseases after gastrectomy