Drug discovery articles within Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology

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• News & Views | 01 April 2010

  Zoledronic acid for breast cancer therapy-induced bone loss

  The addition of zoledronic acid to aromatase inhibitors is associated with improved bone mineral density, but not with an effect on clinically-meaningful end points such as fractures. The oncology community should prioritize the design of trials evaluating more relevant end points, such as fragility fracture risk, for treatment-induced bone loss and critically assess the effects of such treatment on breast cancer survival.

  • Eitan Amir
  • , Alberto Ocaña
  •  & Mark Clemons

• News & Views | 01 March 2010

  Thalidomide in lung cancer therapy—what have we learned?

  Disappointing phase III results for thalidomide combined with gemcitabine and carboplatin in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer might be related to poor efficacy of targeted therapies in unselected patients. We argue that current trial designs are flawed because they expose large numbers of such patients to potentially harmful treatment, and suggest that future research strategies should prioritize identification of predictive markers.

  • Martin Reck
  •  & Ulrich Gatzemeier