[The effect of bisphosphonates on bone metastasis of hormone-refractory prostate cancer]

Approximately 70% of patients with advanced prostate cancer have bone metastases, which are associated with considerable skeletal morbidity, accompanied by severe bone pain that requires narcotics or palliative radiation therapy, pathological fractures, spinal cord compression and hypercalcemia of malignancy (HCM), which consequentiy lower the patient's quality of life. Bisphosphonates, potent inhibitors of osteoclast activity and survival, therefore inhibiting osteoclast-mediated bone absorption, transiently palliative bone pain and decrease analgesic usage in patients who have hormone-refractory prostate cancer (HRPC) with bone metastases. Recently, a randomized controlled trial showed that a third-generation bisphosphonate, zoledronic acid reduced bone pain and skeletal-related events (SREs). In this manuscript, we reviwed the efficacy of bisphosphonates in HRPC with bone metastases from several clinical studies and discuss treatment of advanced prostate cancer with bisphosphonates.