FDA approves first drug to treat bone loss in cancer patients

On Monday the FDA approved the drug Prolia to treat cancer-induced bone loss in two sets of patients:

- Women with breast cancer being treated with adjuvant aromatase inhibitor therapy
- Men with non-metastatic prostate cancer receiving hormone therapy

Patients receiving these therapies tend to have reduced hormone levels, raising the risk for bone loss and fracture.

Prolia is the first such drug indicated to treat bone loss from cancer, although Prolia has been on the market for over a year, having been approved as a treatment for osteoporosis in post-menopausal women. Prolia shares its active ingredient, denosumab, with another Amgen drug, Xvega. Xvega treats bone fractures in cancer patients whose disease has spread the bones. Denosumab works by blocking a protein responsible for kicking osteoclasts-- cells that destroy bone-- into action.

More information is available at www.Prolia.com.

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