Preventing bone complications in prostate cancer

Abstract

Bone metastases alone or in combination with androgen deprivation therapy-related bone loss places prostate cancer patients at greater risk for skeletal morbidities, including pain, pathologic fracture and spinal cord compression. These events significantly impair the patient's quality of life and place a significant burden on health-care resources. This review focuses on the management options for reducing skeletal morbidity in patients with prostate cancer, including life-style modifications, food supplementation, osteoclast-targeted therapy and selective estrogen-receptor modulators. The use of osteoclast-targeted therapy (denosumab and zoledronic acid) is supported by the strongest evidence and has been US Food and Drug Administration-approved for the treatment of patients with PCa at high risk of osteoporotic fractures and for the reduction of the risk of skeletal-related events in patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer. Ongoing trials are studying the potential role of osteoclast-targeted therapy in other settings throughout the course of the disease.