Zoledronic Acid Treatment of Bone Metastasis in Urology

Bone is a frequent site of metastasis and particularly prostate, breast, renal and multiple myeloma are the more common tumors that metastasize. Almost 70% of men with advanced prostate cancer and one-third of patients with renal cancer develop metastasis to the bone. Significant skeletal complications in these patients are due to distortion of bony tissue by metastasis, osteoporosis and androgen deprivation therapy associated bone tissue loss. Impaired bone health affects the qualityof life due to events such as pathological fractures, spinal cord compression, malignant hypercalcemia and treatments required for them. Treatment options of patients with bone metastases are radiotherapy, chemotherapy, orthopedic surgery and biphosphonates. Zoledronic acid is a new generation bisphosphonate, which is accepted as the gold standard in the medical treatment of bone metastases of solid tumors. This drug has an appropriate safety and tolerability profile. Zoledronic acid reduces and delays skeletally related events and have a significant impact on the total risk compared to placebo. The aim of this review is to evaluate and summarize the use of zoledronic acid in urological malignancies with bone metastases. (JAREM 2013; 3: 5-7)