Drug News
Amgen’s drug cuts osteoporosis risk in prostate cancer patients
By Ben Wasserman
Jul 14, 2008 - 4:44:19 PM

MONDAY July 14, 2008 (foodconsumer.org) -- A study found Amgen Inc's experimental drug denosumab reduced the risk of osteoporosis and fracture in men receiving treatments for prostate cancer that can cause bone loss, the company said Monday.

The study of more than 1,400 men with non-metastatic prostate cancer undergoing androgen deprivation treatment showed denosumab rendered greater increase in bone mineral density than a placebo. The increase was seen at the Lumbar spine and non-vertebral sites.

Additionally, denosumab cut the incidence of new vertebral fractures in men receiving the drug by 50 percent compared to that for men who did not received the drug.

Incidence of non-vertebral fractures in the denosumab patients was also reduced, but not statistically significantly.

Side effects seem minimal.   About 6 percent of denosumab patients developed serious infections in the study compared to 5 percent of those receiving a placebo.   But according to Reuters, some early trials showed greater risk of side effects.