Abstract

Bone metastases are known to be caused by all types of cancer. Cancer metastasis to bone has been said to considerably compromise patients' quality of life and adversely affect lifetime prognosis. Although progress in cancer treatment has prolonged survival significantly, this may make increased numbers of patients suffer from bone metastases. Until now, as for the treatment of bone metastases, local therapies, including radiation therapy and surgery, were performed mainly as palliative therapies. However, bisphosphonate-based therapies have recently become available and are frequently administered to delay or prevent skeletal-related events, which include pathologic bone fracture, spinal cord compression, radiologic treatment for bone lesions, surgical procedures for bone lesions and hypercalcemia. Moreover, denosumab, the first fully human monoclonal antibody to receptor activator of nuclear factor κ-B ligand, was approved in the USA because of its evidence-supported clinical effects. Denosumab was effective for prolonging the time to skeletal-related events and inhibiting the onset of pain via the suppression of osteoclast activation. Denosumab has been shown to have a greater effect compared with zoledronic acid, most notably in patients with breast or prostate cancer. In this article, the efficacy and safety of denosumab for the treatment of bone metastases in patients with various advanced cancers are discussed.

Links

Publisher Full Text

Authors

Kurata T, Nakagawa K

Institution

Department of Medical Oncology, Kinki University School of Medicine, Osaka-Sayama, Osaka, Japan. t-kurata@med.kindai.ac.jp

Source

Japanese journal of clinical oncology 42:8 2012 Aug pg 663-9

MeSH

Antibodies, Monoclonal
Bone Neoplasms
Breast Neoplasms
Female
Humans
Male
Prostatic Neoplasms
RANK Ligand

Pub Type(s)

Journal Article
Review

Language

eng

PubMed ID

22701037