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. 2011 Oct;137(10):1545-51.
doi: 10.1007/s00432-011-1027-8. Epub 2011 Aug 13.

Zoledronic acid combined with chemotherapy bring survival benefits to patients with bone metastases from nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Ying Jin  1 , Xin An, Yu Chen Cai, Ye Cao, Xiu Yu Cai, Qing Xia, Yu Ting Tan, Wen Qi Jiang, Yan Xia Shi
Affiliations

Zoledronic acid combined with chemotherapy bring survival benefits to patients with bone metastases from nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Ying Jin et al. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol. 2011 Oct.

Abstract

Purpose: Bone is the most common site of metastases from nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Zoledronic acid (ZA) used to prevent skeletal-related events (SREs) of bone metastases has shown anti-tumor effects; yet, no report has been found on the survival benefit of ZA in NPC. This study aimed to evaluate whether ZA can bring survival benefits to patients with bone metastases from NPC.

Methods: A total of 307 patients with of NPC who had bone metastases were analyzed retrospectively. The differences of survival between patients treated with chemotherapy combined with ZA and those with chemotherapy alone were evaluated by the log-rank test. The Cox multivariate analyses of clinical features and different treatment methods of the 307 patients were conducted.

Results: The prevalence of SREs in the combined approach group was lower than that with chemotherapy alone (34% vs. 48%, X (2) = 7.003, P = 0.008). The combined approach group had better progression-free survival (PFS) (11.5 vs. 5.5 months, P < 0.001) and overall survival (OS) (23.5 vs. 17.5 months, P < 0.001) than chemotherapy alone group. Cox multivariate analysis identified the following independent prognostic factors: ZA treatment, bone metastatic sites, baseline serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) level, SREs and cycles of chemotherapy.

Conclusions: ZA treatment combined with chemotherapy could reduce SREs and improve PFS and OS for NPC patients with bone metastases.

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Conflict of interest statement

All authors state that they have no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Kaplan–Meier PFS curves in the overall study population treated by two approaches (chemotherapy with or without ZA). The median PFS was 11.5 ± 0.7 (95% CI, 10.1–12.9) months in the chemotherapy + zoledronic acid group and 5.5 ± 0.2(95% CI, 5.0–5.9) months in the chemotherapy alone group. The P value between the two groups was < 0.001 and had significantly statistical difference
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Kaplan–Meier OS curves in the overall study population treated by two approaches (chemotherapy with or without ZA). The median OS was 23.5 ± 1.0 (95% CI, 21.5–25.5) months in the chemotherapy + zoledronic acid group and 17.5 ± 1.2 (95% CI, 15.1–19.9) months in the chemotherapy alone group. The P value between the two groups was < 0.001 and had significantly statistical difference
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