JLE

Journal de Pharmacie Clinique

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Bone metastasis management in oncology: the use of intravenous bisphosphonates Volume 25, issue 3, Juillet-Août-Septembre 2006

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Authors
Fédération pharmaceutique, CHU de Reims, Reims, Service d’oncologie médicale, Hôpital Tenon, Paris, Service de néphrologie, Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris

Intravenous bisphosphonates are one of the treatments of choice of bone metastases in cancer patients. Their efficacy on the frequency and the number of skeletal events has been clearly shown. They also exhibit some variable activity on metastatic bone pain. Most often, the side-effects of IV bisphosphonates are well-tolerated. However, new and more severe side effects have also been reported, with an increasing incidence. Those toxicities apply to the bone (osteonecrosis of the jaw) and the kidney (acute renal failure), are not a class-effect of bisphosphonates and prevention of those effects is mandatory.