Palliative treatment of bone metastases in hormone-refractory prostate cancer: effects of pamidronate on the carboxyterminal telopeptide of type-I collagen level in patients with increasing prostate-specific antigen levels.

Purpose: Bisphosphonates have been reported to be effective in reducing bone pain and skeletal-related events associated with bone metastases in hormone-refractory prostate cancer (HRPC). However, whether bone resorption is reduced primarily by these particular drugs is difficult to evaluate because patients with HRPC are usually treated with secondary or tertiary hormonal manipulations including second-line antiandrogens, high-dose diethylstilbestrol, or low-dose dexamethasone therapies, some of which may also be effective. Thus, we assessed changes in the level of the carboxyterminal telopeptide of type-I collagen (ICTP), a bone resorption marker, before and after pamidronate administration in HRPC patients with increasing prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels.