A common osteoporosis medication may improve survival in breast cancer patients

Bisphosphonate, a medication that’s used to prevent bone deterioration in patients with osteoporosis, may also benefit post-menopausal women with breast cancer, according to a study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Cancer cells can break away from a patient’s primary tumor and settle and grow in other parts of their body, including their bones. The American Cancer Society reported more than two out of three breast and prostate cancers spread to the bones, and doctors don’t know how to prevent this (additionally) painful occurrence, also known as bone mestastases, from happening.

In which case, researchers from the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) in Montreal evaluated existing data from 21,000 (mainly post-menopausal) women either in the early stages of breast cancer or in a stage where the breast cancer had spread to lymph nodes, some of which who had taken oral bisphosphonates before or after their diagnosis. And researchers found women taking bisphosphonates during an early stage of breast cancer had a reduced risk of bone metastasis, Medical Daily reported.

"Our study is novel in that it mainly involved women who were post-menopausal and in whom bone-turnover is high due to osteoporosis," Dr. Richard Kremer, study co-author and researcher for MUHC, said in a press release.

“Clinical interventional studies are needed before the results can be translated into standard clinical practice and guidelines," he added.

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