Denosumab superior to zoledronic acid for breast cancer patients with bone metastases

Treatment with denosumab resulted in a greater reduction in skeletal-related events in patients with breast cancer that spread to the bones compared with zoledronic acid, while also maintaining health-related quality of life, according to the results of a phase III study published in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Denosumab is the active ingredient of US biotech giant Amgen’s Prolia and follow-on drug Xgeva, which generated second-quarter 2012 sales of $120 million and $179 million respectively. Zoledronic acid is marketed by Switzerland’s Novartis as Reclast. Neither company was involved in this research.

"Our data indicate that denosumab should be the treatment of choice for the prevention of skeletal-related events and hypercalcemia in patients with breast cancer that has metastasized to the bone," said Miguel Martin, professor of medicine and head of the Medical Oncology Service at Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Maranon in Madrid, Spain.