Denosumab Demonstrates Superiority Over Zometa(R) in Pivotal Phase 3 Head-to-Head Trial in Breast Cancer Patients With Bone ...(reviewing the results from a second Phas...),Health

Bone metastases, the spread of tumors to the bone, are a serious concern for advanced breast cancer patients, with incidence rates as high as 75 percent. When cancer spreads to the bone, the growing cancer cells weaken and destroy the bone around the tumor. This damage can result in a number of serious bone complications, collectively called SREs.

Full efficacy and safety data will be submitted for presentation at an upcoming medical meeting in the second half of this year.

Study Design

This was an international Phase 3, randomized, double-blind study comparing denosumab with Zometa in the treatment of bone metastases in patients with advanced breast cancer. Patients enrolled in the study were randomized in a one-to-one ratio to receive either 120 mg of denosumab subcutaneously every four weeks (Q4W) or Zometa administered intravenously at a dose of 4 mg single, 15 minute infusion every four weeks as per the labeled use.

In clinical trials testing new medications for bone metastases, treatment success has been measured by whether the bone complications, or SREs, caused by the tumor are reduced or delayed. The primary and secondary endpoints of the denosumab bone metastases studies use a composite endpoint of four SREs - fracture, radiation to bone, surgery to bone, and spinal cord compression - to measure the effectiveness of denosumab versus Zometa.

The primary endpoint was to evaluate if denosumab is non-inferior to Zometa with respect to the first on-study SRE in patients with advanced breast cancer and bone metastases. Secondary endpoints were to evaluate if denosumab was superior to Zometa with respect to the first on-study SRE, as well as first-and-subsequent on-study SREs, and to assess the safety and tolerability of denosumab compared
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