Denosumab, an inhibitor of RANKL, improves bone mineral density and reduces the incidence of fractures in men who receive androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) for prostate cancer. At present, however, a lack of comparison with potent bisphosphonates limits the assessment of its utility in the prevention of ADT-induced bone loss.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$209.00 per year
only $17.42 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Shahinian, V. B., Kuo, Y. F., Freeman, J. L. & Goodwin, J. S. Risk of fracture after androgen deprivation for prostate cancer. N. Engl. J. Med. 352, 154–164 (2005).
Galvão, D. A., Taaffe, D. R., Spry, N. & Newton, R. U. Exercise can prevent and even reverse adverse effects of androgen suppression treatment in men with prostate cancer. Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis. 10, 340–346 (2007).
Greenspan, S. L., Nelson, J. B., Trump, D. L. & Resnick, N. M. Effect of once-weekly oral alendronate on bone loss in men receiving androgen deprivation therapy for prostate cancer: a randomized trial. Ann. Intern. Med. 146, 416–424 (2007).
Smith, M. R. et al. Pamidronate to prevent bone loss during androgen-deprivation therapy for prostate cancer. N. Engl. J. Med. 345, 948–955 (2001).
Michaelson, M. D. et al. Randomized controlled trial of annual zoledronic acid to prevent gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist-induced bone loss in men with prostate cancer. J. Clin. Oncol. 25, 1038–1042 (2007).
Body, J. J. et al. A study of the biological receptor activator of nuclear factor-kappa B ligand inhibitor, denosumab, in patients with multiple myeloma or bone metastases from breast cancer. Clin. Cancer Res. 12, 1221–1228 (2006).
Smith, M. R. et al. Denosumab in men receiving androgen-deprivation therapy for prostate cancer. N. Engl. J. Med. 361, 745–755 (2009).
Seeman, E. Is a change in bone mineral density a sensitive and specific surrogate of anti-fracture efficacy? Bone 41, 308–317 (2007).
World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Metabolic Bone Diseases FRAX® WHO fracture risk assessment tool [online], (2009).
Henry, D. et al. A double-blind, randomized study of denosumab versus zoledronic acid for the treatment of bone metastases in patients with advanced cancer (excluding breast and prostate cancer) or multiple myeloma [abstract #20LBA]. Eur. J. Cancer Suppl. 7, 12 (2009).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing financial interests.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Amir, E., Tannock, I. Androgen deprivation therapy and bone loss. Nat Rev Urol 6, 642–644 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrurol.2009.218
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrurol.2009.218