Bone-building drugs may help prevent breast cancer study

December 11, 2009 12:39 pm | Updated 12:39 pm IST - HOUSTON

Students forming human chain to create awareness on breast cancer. File Photo: M. Periasamy.

Students forming human chain to create awareness on breast cancer. File Photo: M. Periasamy.

Bone-building drugs such as Fosamax and Actonel might help prevent breast cancer, according to two new studies presented Thursday at a medical symposium in Texas. The studies suggest that women who take the drugs, called bisphosphonates, are about one-third less likely to develop breast cancer than women who do not.

In one U.S. study, scientists found there were 31 percent fewer cases of breast cancer among women who took Fosamax or other oral bisphosphonates than among women who didn’t. Other commonly used oral bisphosphonates are Boniva and Actonel.

In the other study, researchers in Israel found that women who had used bone-building drugs, mostly Fosamax, were 29 percent less likely to develop breast cancer. The two studies used different methods to arrive at the same basic result, adding to the strength of the findings, Indiana University’s Theresa Guise said at a news briefing on the findings at the Breast Cancer Symposium in San Antonio, Texas. The studies do not prove that the drugs prevent breast cancer, doctors say. More definitive studies will be done in the next one or two years to give a clearer picture about the effectiveness of the drugs in preventing breast cancer. Until then, women should only take these drugs if they have osteoporosis or other bone problems, they say.

However, Rowan Chlebowski, a medical oncologist who headed the U.S. study, said that “the idea that bisphosphonates may protect against breast cancer incidence is very exciting because there are about 30 million prescriptions for them written annually in the United States.” “By protecting their bone health, women may also be protecting themselves against cancer,” he said.

The U.S. study involved more than 150,000 women in the Women’s Health Initiative, a study known for revealing previously unrecognized risks from taking estrogen and progestin pills after menopause. The second study tracked more than 4,000 postmenopausal women in Israel.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.