Frequency of zoledronic acid to prevent further bone loss in osteoporotic patients undergoing androgen deprivation therapy for prostate cancer.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy of zoledronic acid (ZA) in osteoporotic patients with prostate cancer receiving either luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone agonists (LHRHA, which accelerate bone loss) or bicalutamide (which preserves bone mineral density, BMD) as androgen-deprivation therapy is the mainstay of treatment for advanced prostate cancer, and many patients are osteoporotic at presentation, with others becoming so on treatment.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: Fifty-eight osteoporotic men with non-metastatic prostate cancer were followed for 3 years. Patients were randomly assigned to receive either LHRHA (29) or bicalutamide (29). All received 4 mg ZA 3-monthly for 1 year. BMD was measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry at four times: 1 year before ZA; immediately before ZA; after five infusions; and 1 year afterwards. Bone turnover markers (BTMs) were measured at 3-monthly intervals on ZA and 1 year later. All patients had radiography of the thoracolumbar spine at baseline and after ZA.

RESULTS: Patients on LHRHA showed a 4.9% decrease in BMD before ZA, a 1.6% increase after ZA and a 3.0% decrease 1 year later, compared to 2.0% increase, 7.8% increase and 1.9% decrease, respectively, in those on bicalutamide. BTMs decreased significantly after ZA. Seven patients (12%) had vertebral fractures at baseline, with none deteriorating at 1 year; two (3.5%) developed mandibular osteonecrosis.

CONCLUSION: Before ZA, BMD decreased on LHRHA, but was maintained on bicalutamide. Treatment with 3-monthly ZA increased BMD and suppressed BTMs in osteoporotic patients both on LHRHA and bicalutamide, but to a greater extent in the latter. However, 1 year after the last infusion, BMD declined, suggesting that annual administration is inadequate in these patients. The optimum frequency might be related to BMD at time of bisphosphonate initiation.