Novartis bone drug reduces risk of breast cancer

Vienna, February 12: Novartis, a drug used to overcome bone loss may also help reduce the spread or recurrence of breast cancers in premenopausal women by one third, a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine reveals.

The Austrian researchers found that Novartis AG’s drug Zometa (zoledronic acid) administered to prevent bone loss in cancerdefine patients, cuts the risk of relapse of breast cancer in young women after surgery.

The bone-loss drug, approved by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) not only reduced the spread but also the recurrence of some breast cancers by nearly 33 percent, finds the study by the University of Vienna.

The research, led by Dr. Michael Gnant, M.D., of the Medical University of Vienna, reveals that the osteoporosis drug Zometa combined with post-surgery hormonal therapy was instrumental in reducing the recurrence or death by 36 percent than hormone therapy alone.

“The possible return of breast cancer is a major concern among women who've undergone surgery to remove their tumors. We anticipate that this publication in The New England Journal of Medicine will provide oncologists with evidence regarding an additional treatment regimen to further help reduce the risk of breast cancer recurrence, or even death, for premenopausal women with hormone-sensitive breast cancer,” stated lead investigator Michael Gnant.

“Drugs that inhibit the changing of bones and prevent osteoporoses actually were found in this study to decrease the risk of breast cancer recurrence,” said Dr. Ann Partridge, an oncologistdefine with Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

The first ever large, randomized, phase III clinical trial conducted by the Austrian Breast & Colorectal Cancer Study Group (ABCSG) pointed out that Zometa offers significant protection against the return of early breast cancer in premenopausal women.

The drug might be having anti-tumor activity, which could help curb relapse or spread of cancer before it reaches an advanced stage-two, prior laboratory studies point out.

“It is encouraging to see a significant reduction in risk of recurrence in these patients from a therapy that was also well-tolerated,” stated David Epstein, president of Novartis Oncology, the manufacturer of the drug. “The findings of this landmark trial substantiate the strong anticancer effect of Zometa beyond the well-established benefit of this treatment in preventing bone complications in advanced cancers.”

The trial of the study included 1803 premenopausal women with endocrine-responsive stage I or II breast cancer who were given the Zoladex, 3.6 mg subcutaneously (gonadotropin-releasing hormone analog goserelin )every 28 days after primary surgery.

The results indicated towards prolonged disease-free survival (36 percent reduction) and recurrence-free survival (35 percent reduction) with the addition of Zometa to hormone therapy. There was a sharp decline in the number of deaths (16 versus 26) among those who were administered Zometa as compared with hormone therapy treatment alone.

Zometa is the most widely prescribed drug for prevention of bone complications due to bone metastases. The drug is used to treat more than 2.7 million patients worldwide.