Zometa---IV drug to prevent bone loss on a yearly basis

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Zometa---IV drug to prevent bone loss on a yearly basis

Preventing Bone Loss, on a Yearly Basis

By Salynn Boyles

WebMD Medical News Reviewed By Charlotte Grayson

Feb. 27, 2002 -- An experimental approach to treating osteoporosis

may soon make it possible to prevent bone loss and fractures with

just one yearly trip to the doctor's office. Researchers report that

an annual infusion of a drug similar to those used in the most widely

prescribed oral medications is equally effective in preventing bone

loss as taking pills every day.

Although the findings must be confirmed, the promise of an easier way

to keep bones healthy is good news to 73-year-old Martha Fussell of

Atlanta. Fussell has been taking the oral bisphosphonate drug Fosamax

for almost two years. Until recently, her daily morning ritual

included taking the drug on an empty stomach with a large glass of

water upon waking. She still takes the drug once a week, and is not

allowed to eat or drink anything but water for 30 minutes.

" It is better now, but it is still a pain because I need my coffee in

the morning, " she tells WebMD. " I usually watch the clock, and that

30 minutes seems to last for hours. "

In the study from New Zealand's University of Auckland, researchers

evaluated the use of an intravenously administered bisphosphonate

drug called Zometa, which is now approved to treat bone pain and

fractures in cancer patients. Zometa is given as a five-minute

infusion, and it works by slowing the production of cells that

destroy bone.

A total of 351 postmenopausal women with thinning bones (as measured

by bone mineral density) received various doses of Zometa at

intervals ranging from every three months to just once during the

yearlong study. All these dosing schedules prevented bone loss as

effectively as daily oral medications. But the limited study did not

measure subsequent fractures in the women. The findings appear in the

Feb. 28 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.

" We may be looking at a completely new treatment paradigm for

osteoporosis, " lead author Ian R. Reid, MD, tells WebMD. " It may soon

be possible to get your osteoporosis treatment at the same time that

you get your annual flu shot, and then go away and forget about it

for a year. "

Novartis Pharmaceuticals, which manufactures Zometa and funded the

study, is planning a three-year, worldwide trial designed to

determine whether fractures are reduced in people receiving annual

infusions of the drug.

" It is exciting to think that we may be able to give an injection

once a year or even less and the effects will last for a very long

time, " Caren G. , MD, of Boston's Brigham and Women's

Hospital, tells WebMD. " But there are a few caveats here. The first

thing we need to establish is whether this treatment is safe for

prolonged use. And we also need proof that it not only improves bone

density, but that this ultimately translates into fewer fractures. "

Fussell says she loves the idea of a once-a-year osteoporosis

treatment, and will be among the first to seek the treatment once it

is proven to be safe and effective.

" At this age, you have so many pills to swallow that having one less

to deal with would be nice, " she says.