Anticancer evidence for zoledronic acid across the cancer continuum.

Emerging evidence from clinical trials with zoledronic acid (ZOL) suggests that ZOL may have anticancer activity in a variety of cancer types. Retrospective studies and subset analyses as well as prospectively designed clinical trials have demonstrated that ZOL has survival benefits in patients with advanced cancers. Several studies have shown that ZOL improves disease-free survival, reduces the persistence of circulating and disseminated tumor cells, which are known to be predictive of disease recurrence, and decreases residual invasive tumor size in patients with early breast cancer. These data suggest that, in addition to providing skeletal-related event (SRE) benefits, ZOL also may potentially provide clinically meaningful benefits through anticancer activity. This article reviews the breadth of evidence supporting the anticancer activity of ZOL across the treatment continuum in patients with cancer.