Clodronate does not improve breast cancer survival

By Will Boggs, MD

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Treatment with clodronate does not improve survival in women with early or advanced breast cancer, according to the results of a meta-analysis of published studies.

"There is no definitive data to support the use of clodronate at this point in time for the purpose of improving breast cancer survival," Dr. Tam Cam Ha from the National Cancer Centre, Singapore, told Reuters Health. "This reaffirms the current status of knowledge and current practice guidelines, as clodronate isn't routinely prescribed for the purposes of improving survival," the researcher added.

Clodronate is a member of a class of drugs called bisphosphonates, which are used to treat the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis.

In the British Journal of Cancer, Dr. Ha and Dr. H. Li note that bisphosphonates in some trials have apparently prolonged survival in breast cancer patients while other results have been negative. The researchers therefore pooled results from 13 trials to examine the effect of oral clodronate (1,600 milligrams daily for 2 or 3 years) on survival in women with breast cancer.

In women with early breast cancer, there was no difference in overall survival or in the time it took the breast tumor to spread to the bone or other sites between patients who received clodronate in addition to standard treatment and those who did not.

Similarly, in women with advanced breast cancer, clodronate did not change the overall survival or the appearance of bone metastasis.

"We wouldn't really argue against or for the use of this agent in breast cancer patients based on this study," Dr. Ha said. Currently, big multicenter trials are investigating this, the researcher noted, and the results of one of the trials will be available in the near future and that may provide more evidence on this subject.

SOURCE: British Journal of Cancer, June 18, 2007.