Bone-modifying agents as adjuvant therapy for early-stage breast cancer.

The development of effective systemic therapies to reduce the risk of disease recurrence or metastases in early-stage breast cancer remains an important challenge. The use of bone-modifying agents (BMAs), including the bisphosphonates (BPs) and the monoclonal antibody denosumab (Xgeva), is well established for metastatic bone disease. In the adjuvant setting, some studies have shown provocative findings with some of these agents for the prevention of future breast cancer-related events, with improved survival in some subgroups. The most compelling results have been seen with clodronate and zoledronic acid. In this review we describe the current evidence for use of BPs as part of the adjuvant treatment of patients with early-stage breast cancer.