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Bone building drugs help fight against cancer

02/22/2011 22:12:00 admin
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Aimee Keenan-Greene

A new study says the use of oral bisphosphonates - like Fosamax or Boniva -  cuts the risk of colorectal cancer by 59 percent when used for a year.

Researchers writing in the Journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology say the use of bisphosphonates for more than 1 year before diagnosis, but not for less than 1 year, was associated with a significantly reduced relative risk (RR) of colorectal cancer (RR, 0.50; 95% CI, 0.35 to 0.71). 

Scientists explained that the association remained statistically significant after adjustment in a model for vegetable consumption, sports activity, family history of colorectal cancer, body mass index, and use of low-dose aspirin, statins, vitamin D, and postmenopausal hormones (RR, 0.41; 95% CI, 0.25 to 0.67). 

Concomitant use of bisphosphonates and statins did not reduce the risk further.

The Molecular Epidemiology of Colorectal Cancer study is a population-based, case-control study in northern Israel of patients with colorectal cancer and age-, sex-, clinic-, and ethnic group–matched controls. Long-term use of bisphosphonates before diagnosis was assessed in a subset of 933 pairs of postmenopausal female patients and controls, enrolled in Clalit Health Services, using computerized pharmacy records.


Some of the more common symptoms of colon cancer include:
  • Changes in your bowel habits, such as bowel movements that are either more or less frequent than normal
  • Constipation (difficulty having a bowel movement or straining to have a bowel movement)
  • Diarrhea (loose or watery stools)
  • Intermittent (alternating) constipation and diarrhea
  • Bright red or dark red blood in your stool or black, dark colored, "tarry" stools
  • Stools that are thinner than normal ("pencil stools") or feeling as if you cannot empty your bowels completely
  • Abdominal (midsection) discomfort, bloating, frequent gas pains, or cramps

Bisphosphonates are commonly used for the treatment of osteoporosis and bone metastases caused by breast cancer and were recently reported to be associated with a reduced risk of breast cancer, possibly acting through the mevalonate pathway scientists say.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say aside from non-melanoma skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in the United States. It is also one of the leading causes of cancer death among women of all races and Hispanic origin populations.

In 2007, the most recent year numbers are available,  202,964 women in the United States were diagnosed with breast cancer and 40,598 women in the United States died from breast cancer.

Authors: Gad Rennert, Mila Pinchev, Hedy Rennert, and Stephen Gruber:  From the Carmel Medical Center, Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion–Israel Institute of Technology, and Clalit Health Services National Cancer Control Center, Haifa, Israel; and University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.

 

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