THURSDAY, July 23 (HealthDay News) -- Treatment of
bone metastases in prostate cancer patients with denosumab, which blocks bone
resorption, reduces bone turnover compared with bisphosphonates, according to a
study in the August issue of the Journal of Urology.
As part of a Phase II trial, Karim Fizazi, M.D., from the Institut Gustave
Roussy in Villejuif, France, and colleagues randomly assigned 50 patients with
prostate cancer and bone metastases, despite the use of intravenous
bisphosphonates, to continue receiving intravenous bisphosphonates every four
weeks or to receive 180 mg subcutaneous denosumab (an antibody to block bone
resorption) every four weeks or 180 mg every 12 weeks.
The researchers found that, at week 13, more denosumab-treated patients had
urine N-telopeptide (a marker of bone turnover) less than 50 nM bone collagen
equivalents per mM creatinine compared with bisphosphonate-treated patients (69
versus 19 percent), which continued at week 25 (69 versus 31 percent). Grade 4,
asymptomatic, reversible hypophosphatemia was observed in one denosumab-treated
patient.
"In patients with prostate cancer related bone metastases and increased urine N-telopeptide
despite intravenous bisphosphonate treatment, denosumab normalized urine N-telopeptide
levels more frequently than ongoing intravenous bisphosphonates," Fizazi and
colleagues conclude.
The study was supported by Amgen Inc.; several authors reported financial or
other relationships with pharmaceutical companies.
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