Natural history of bone metastasis in colorectal cancer: final results of a large Italian bone metastases study.

Background: Data are limited regarding bone metastases from colorectal cancer (CRC). The objective of this study was to survey the natural history of bone metastasis in CRC.

Patients And Methods: This retrospective, multicenter, observational study of 264 patients with CRC involving bone examined cancer treatments, bone metastases characteristics, skeletal-related event (SRE) type and frequency, zoledronic acid therapy, and disease outcomes.

Can we consider zoledronic acid a new antitumor agent? Recent evidence in clinical setting.

New emerging data suggest that bisphosphonates may exert antitumor properties. Preclinical studies have demonstrated that zoledronic acid (ZA) can induce direct and indirect antitumor activities such as inhibition of angiogenesis, invasion and adhesion of tumor cells, and overall tumor progression, stimulation of adoptive and innate immunity and emerging evidence suggests that the use of these agents may prevent the development of skeletal and extra skeletal metastases. This review will critically describe the new growing evidence of antitumor activity exerted by bisphosphonates in cancer patients, both in metastatic disease and in the adjuvant setting.