Drug Can Slow Bone Loss in Prostate Cancer Patients

Hormone-deprivation Rx erodes bone, but meds like Fosamax can help, study shows

By Alan Mozes
HealthDay Reporter

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THURSDAY, Sept. 18 (HealthDay News) -- Men receiving hormone-deprivation therapy for advanced but localized prostate cancer can develop bone loss as a side effect of the treatment.

But a new study finds that bone-strengthening drugs such as Fosamax (generic name alendronate) can help prevent that damage.

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Having earlier found that alendronate successfully prevents bone loss for patients on hormone-depletion therapy after just one year, the current follow-up reveals that two years of the drug affords men even greater protection.

"The population is aging rapidly, and with it comes the increased risk of age-related disease, one of the most common of which for men being prostate cancer," noted study co-author Dr. Neil M. Resnick, a professor of medicine in the department of geriatrics at the University of Pittsburgh.

Because testosterone is thought to spur prostate cancer, patients typically are placed on an androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT). "The good news is that ADT therapy works," Resnick said.

"However, one of the predicaments doctors and patients have had to deal with is the side effect of osteoporosis resulting from the drug's blocking of the body's ability to generate androgens, the most common of which is testosterone," explained Resnick. "Blocking this suppresses tumor growth and helps the patient live longer, but bones require testosterone to remain strong, so depleting it can raise the risk for osteoporosis. And now, we have data to show that if doctors add this common medication -- alendronate -- early enough, and for two years, they can substantially decrease that risk."

The authors pointed out that ADT use has increased two- to fourfold over the past decade. Therapy-associated bone loss is greatest within the first year of treatment, and chronic long-term ADT has been linked to a doubling or quadrupling of men's fracture risk.

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