(Ivanhoe Newswire) – Osteoporosis, which can be caused by certain cancer
drugs, is a growing concern among breast cancer survivors and their doctors.
Many breast cancer patients also experience secondary causes of bone loss, such
as vitamin D deficiency. Primary causes of osteoporosis are menopause and aging.
Secondary causes are diseases or conditions that exacerbate bone loss.
A new study found bone loss can be halted with a comprehensive regimen that
includes both osteoporosis drugs and treatments that target secondary causes of
bone loss. Study leader Pauline Camacho, associate professor of medicine at
Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine and director of Loyola's
Osteoporosis and Metabolic Bone Disease Center, was quoted as saying, "Doctors
evaluating breast cancer patients for possible bone loss should look further
than cancer drugs."
A class of breast cancer drugs called aromatase inhibitors can decrease bone
mineral density and increase the risk of fractures in postmenopausal women. The
drugs decrease the body's production of estrogen. While estrogen feeds cancer,
the hormone also protects against osteoporosis. In certain breast cancer
patients, bone loss from cancer drugs can be treated with osteoporosis drugs
called bisphosphonates.
Camacho and colleagues reviewed charts of 81 breast cancer patients who were
referred to Loyola's Osteoporosis and Metabolic Bone Disease Center for
treatment or prevention of osteoporosis. Fifty-one patients had secondary causes
of bone loss, including Vitamin D deficiency, excessive calcium excretion in
urine and an overactive parathyroid gland. Thirty patients did not have
secondary causes of bone loss.
Each group received similar treatment with osteoporosis drugs. Women with
secondary bone loss also received additional treatments. For example, vitamin D
deficiency was treated with prescription doses of vitamin D supplements.
Excessive calcium excretion was treated with a "water pill" that is also used to
treat high blood pressure.
After one year, the breast cancer patients with secondary causes of bone loss
had stable bone mineral density in their spines and necks. Bone mineral density
also improved in the group of breast cancer patients who did not have secondary
causes of bone loss.
Camacho said the study demonstrates that bone loss "can be prevented in women
undergoing hormonal therapy if secondary causes of bone loss are corrected and
bisphosphonate osteoporosis drugs are appropriately used."
SOURCE: Presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Bone and
Mineral Research
