Landmark study finds how often cancer patients develop osteonecrosis of the jaw
A landmark study by researchers from the SWOG Cancer Research Network, a cancer clinical trials group funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has found that 2.8 percent of patients on average develop osteonecrosis of the jaw, or ONJ, within three years of starting a common treatment for cancer that has spread to the bone.
Appearing in
JAMA Oncology, the findings are important because the treatment, zoledronic acid, is prescribed to tens of thousands of patients whose cancer has spread to the bone. Almost all forms of cancer can spread, or metastasize, to bone but the most common are lung, breast, and prostate cancers and multiple myeloma. Zoledronic acid can protect bone, but is associated with a risk of ONJ, which causes exposed bone in the jaw that does not heal. This causes inflammation and pain in the mouth, and people with ONJ may have trouble speaking, eating, and smiling - small everyday acts that play a big role in patients' quality of life.