Advanced breast cancer: Can bisphosphonates prevent broken
bones? Women with breast cancer that has spread to the bones can
reduce their risk of broken bones by taking bisphosphonates. It
is not known, though, whether one particular bisphosphonate
medication is better than others. Cancer spreading to the bones
is one of the fears with advanced breast cancer. Cancer cells
move to the skeleton and start to grow there. This growth
weakens the bones so much that it can lead to painful breaks.
Researchers have been testing bisphosphonate drugs in recent
years to try to find a way to protect women with advanced breast
cancer from broken bones. It is known that these drugs can slow
down damaging bone loss. To assess the benefits and adverse
effects of these drugs, researchers from the Cochrane
Collaboration, an international research network, gathered and
systematically analyzed the treatment results of 21 trials among
almost 7,200 women with advanced breast cancer. Bisphosphonates
can slow down damage to bones Thei