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news.A first-line treatment regimen with Novartis drug Zometa (zoledronic acid) improved overall survival (OS) and progression free survival (PFS) in patients with newly diagnosed myeloma, when compared to patients receiving a regimen that included oral clodronate, according to a new study.
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Zometa, an intravenous bisphosphonate, is indicated for the prevention of skeletal related events (pathological fractures, spinal compression, radiation or surgery to bone, or tumor-induced hypercalcemia) in patients with multiple myeloma and advanced malignancies involving bone.
The results are from a large, prospective, multicenter, randomised, Phase III clinical trial that enrolled 1,960 patients with multiple myeloma.
At the median follow up of 3.7 years, Zometa significantly reduced the risk for death by 16% and the relative risk for PFS events by 12%, when compared to oral clodronate.
In addition, Zometa was superior to clodronate in preventing SREs associated with multiple myeloma, regardless of SRE history at baseline.
Novartis Oncology president Herve Hoppenot said it is encouraging to see the improvement in both overall and progression-free survival in the patients with multiple myeloma.
"The findings of this large-scale trial add to the growing body of evidence that supports the potential anticancer effect of Zometa in multiple cancer types," Hoppenot said.