Antitumoreffect van bisfosfonaten bij mammacarcinoom

Conflict of interest: none declared. Financial support: none declared.

• Pre-clinical and clinical studies increasingly suggest that the most potent nitrogen-containing bisphosphonates have antitumour effects.

• Bisphosphonates inhibit osteoclast-mediated bone resorption, and can thus delay the spread of skeletal metastases.

• Bisphosphonates might also inhibit tumour growth outside the skeleton by inducing apoptosis and inhibiting proliferation, adhesion, invasion, and angiogenesis of tumour cells.

• Recent trials suggest a possible synergistic antitumour effect between bisphosphonates and chemotherapy.

• A mechanism of action for bisphosphonates that could explain their possible antitumour effect and their synergy with chemotherapy is speculative and demands further investigation.

• The role of bisphosphonates in primary neoadjuvant treatment of breast cancer is promising, but must be further investigated.