The standard treatment for prostate cancer is androgen deprivation therapy, which however can damage the patient’s bone mineral density, resulting in increased risk of fractures. Research published by Jama Network open highlights the importance of screening for bone mineral density with X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) testing to reduce this type of risk.
April 11 –
(Reuters Health) – Among men with prostate cancer receiving androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), there is a gap in bone health management and fracture prevention, with low density screening rates bone mineral, as assessed by X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) examination. To highlight this phenomenon is a research coordinated by Maria Suarez-Almazorfrom the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston (USA), and published by JAMA Network Open.
Prostate cancer accounts for 26% of all new cancer diagnoses in men, and ADT is the standard treatment, but it can have a negative effect on bones.
US researchers looked at a cohort of nearly 55,000 men with prostate cancer who started ADT, with low DXA screening rates of 7.9% nationwide, with only one slight increase over the years from 6.8% in 2005 to 8.4% in 2015. with DXA screening included older age, history of osteoporosis or fractures, more advanced or high-risk cancer and more comorbidities.
Fracture rates are reported to be high, with 17.5% of men developing a fracture of any type after starting ADT and 7.7% having a major fracture.
Submitting to the bone mineral density detection test would have been “significantly associated with a reduction in the risk of suffering from osteoporotic fractures”, as the same authors of the study point out, according to which “early intervention with bone-modifying agents Bone Condition May Reduce Fracture-Associated Disease Burden in Elderly Survivors of Prostate Cancer”.
An editorial linked to the article, however, pointed out that almost all guidelines have been updated since 2015 to raise awareness of DXA, so after that year “testing rates could be higher”, as pointed out by the author of the report. , Amar Kishan, of the University of California at Los Angeles. Despite this, experts are convinced that there is still room for improvement. Additionally, “it is possible that with a simple intervention, such as vitamin D and calcium supplementation, bone health may be optimized,” Kishan and colleagues conclude.
Source: JAMA Open Network
Reuters staff
(Italian version of Daily Health / Popular Science)
April 11, 2022
© All rights reserved
Other articles in Science and Drugs
Online news
health information.
QS Edizioni srl
VAT number 12298601001
Via Boncompagni, 16
00187 – Rome
Via Vittore Carpaccio, 18
00147 Roma (RM)
Cesare Fassari
Managing Editor
Francesco Maria Avitto
President
Ernesto Rodriquez
Copyright 2013 © QS Edizioni srl. All rights reserved
– VAT number 12298601001
– registration in the ROC n. 23387
– registration at the Court of Rome n. 115/3013 of 05/22/2013
All rights reserved.
Privacy Policy
