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Biphosphonates in the Treatment of Bone Metastases – Osteonecrosis of the Jaw

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Bone Metastases

Part of the book series: Cancer Metastasis – Biology and Treatment ((CMBT,volume 12))

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Abstract

Bisphosphonates changed the way cancer patients with bone cancer and cancer metastatic to bone are treated. They promote considerable improvement in patient’s quality of life, reduce pain and decrease the risk of skeletal adverse events like pathological fractures. However, for some patients, these improvements come with a high price when they develop bisphosphonate adverse events. One serious adverse event that has been recently described is osteonecrosis of the jawbones (BON). This complication may affect up to 10% of those patients taking an intravenous formulation of bisphosphonates, more commonly pamidronate and zoledronic acid. Risk factors, diagnostic procedures, patient management and prevention will be the main focus of the discussion. In addition, we will review what is known about the pathobiology of this oral cavity complication of bisphosphonate therapy and will identify areas for future research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. NSU College of Dental Medicine, 3200 S. University Drive, 33328, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA

    Cesar Augusto Migliorati

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  1. Cesar Augusto Migliorati
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Correspondence to Cesar Augusto Migliorati .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Radiation Oncology, University of Patras Medical School, 265 04, Patras, Greece

    Dimitrios Kardamakis MD, PhD, DMRT  & Vassilios Vassiliou MD, PhD  & 

  2. Dept. of Radiation Oncology, University of Toronto Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, 2075 Bayview Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, M4N 3M5, Canada

    Edward Chow MBBS, PhD, FRCPC

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Migliorati, C.A. (2009). Biphosphonates in the Treatment of Bone Metastases – Osteonecrosis of the Jaw. In: Kardamakis, D., Vassiliou, V., Chow, E. (eds) Bone Metastases. Cancer Metastasis – Biology and Treatment, vol 12. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9819-2_12

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