Zoledronic acid, marketed as Zometa®, is a drug that is most commonly used for the treatment of osteoporosis and bone metastases. In the February 12, 2009 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, Austrian researchers published a study showing that zoledronic acid also has a benefit in pre-menopausal breast cancer patients .

This finding comes from the Austrian Breast and Colorectal Cancer Study Group-12 trial involving 1803 pre-menopausal women with estrogen-responsive early breast cancer who underwent surgery and standard chemotherapy. Half of the women in this trial were randomized to receive injections of zoledronic acid every 6 months for a period of three years. The researchers found that adding zoledronic acid to standard treatment significantly improved disease-free survival. However, the addition of zoledronic acid did not significant reduce the risk of death.

It remains to be seen whether the findings of this study will change the current treatment standard for estrogen-responsive early breast cancer. Although it may be too early to recommend zoledronic acid for routine care, it seems that, among breast cancer patients who fit the profile of the women in this study, zoledronic acid treatment should be considered.

Source

NEJM. 2009;360:679-691.