Bone Drug Fails to Prevent Breast Cancer Recurrence: Study
SUNDAY Sept. 25, 2011 -- The bone drug Zometa, once considered a
promising weapon to reduce the risk of breast cancer recurrence,
should not be used routinely in treatment of the disease,
researchers say. In a new study of breast cancer patients,
Zometa (zoledronic acid) did not increase disease-free survival
overall, and it appeared to raise the risk of a serious side
effect, said study co-author Dr. Robert Coleman, a professor of
medical oncology at the University of Sheffield in England.
However, "for the one-third of women in the study who had gone
fully through menopause at the time of study entry, there is
significant benefit in terms of both disease recurrence and
overall survival," Coleman added. The results of the trial,
published online Sept. 25 in the New England Journal of
Medicine, were slated to be presented Sunday at the 2011
European Multidisciplinary Cancer Congress in Stockholm. Coleman
also presented findings from the study at the S