No benefits for clodronate in prostate cancer

UK researchers have reported no benefits with the bisphosphonate, clodronate, in non-metastatic prostate cancer in terms of overall or bone-metastasis-free surivival, in a study published today in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

In this randomized–controlled trial, there was no significant difference in bone-metastases-free survival or overall survival between clodronate or placebo over 10 years in men with nonmetastatic prostate cancer who were at high risk of developing bone metastases.

This study was initiated because of evidence suggesting that adjuvant bisphosphonates may reduce the rate of development of bone metastases-negative breast cancer, but it was not known whether they had similar effects in prostate cancer.

Author’s conclusions: ‘adjuvant sodium clodronate does not modify the natural history of nonmetastatic prostate cancer’.

Source: http://jnci.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/99/10/765