Adjuvant zoledronic acid in patients with early breast cancer: final efficacy analysis of the AZURE (BIG 01/04) randomised open-label phase 3 trial

Zoledronic Acid Inhibits the Motility of Cancer Stem-like Cells from the Human Breast Cancer Cell Line MDA-MB 231

“…ZOL not only reduced bone metastasis, as expected, but also reduced visceral and overall metastasis. Other recent studies showed similar findings on DFS and overall survival (25,26), while other investigations observed no benefit following the addition of ZOL (27,28). It seems that only some subgroups of breastcancer patients with tumor characteristics that have not been completely defined may benefit from ZOL treatment.…”

Second international consensus guidelines for breast cancer in young women (BCY2)

“…After BCY2 the Early Breast Cancer Trialists' Collaborative Group (EBCTCG) meta-analysis was published which confirmed the lack of benefit of adjuvant bisphosphonates among premenopausal women 79 . The BCY2 panel, in keeping with the recommendation of BCY1, agreed that bisphosphonates should not be considered standard adjuvant therapy for premenopausal women at this time, although can be used for prevention of loss of bone density.…”

Cancer treatment-induced bone loss (CTIBL): Pathogenesis and clinical implications

“…ZA was administered, in association with adjuvant hormone therapies, to pre-and post-menopausal HR + breast cancer patients, observing a significant BMD preservation, although no significant differences in fracture incidence were noticed after ZA treatment [99,100]. Interestingly, results from the AZURE trial showed that ZA treatment every 3-4 weeks for 6 doses and then every 3-6 months, for a total of 5 years, significantly improved disease-free survival in early breast cancer patients with established menopause [101]. In agreement with these data, the early breast cancer trial collaborative group has recently concluded a meta-analysis on 18766 women treated with adjuvant bisphosphonates for early breast cancer.…”