Patients transitioned to denosumab showed gains in BMD

ASBMR 30th Annual Meeting

Postmenopausal women with low bone mass who transitioned from weekly oral alendronate to denosumab demonstrated gains in bone mineral density compared with women who continued alendronate therapy, according to findings presented at the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research 30th Annual Meeting in Montreal.

Additionally, patients preferred a twice-yearly subcutaneous injection to a weekly oral pill, according to findings from another trial presented at the meeting.

In the Study of Transitioning from Alendronate to Denosumab (STAND) trial, researchers enrolled 504 women and randomly assigned about 250 patients each to either transition to denosumab or continuing alendronate. Denosumab increased BMD at the total hip by 1.9% vs. 1.05% with alendronate (Fosamax, Merck) (P<.0001). Compared with continued alendronate, patients in the denosumab arm experienced increases in BMD for lumbar spine, femoral neck, hip trochanter and 1/3 radius, according to a press release.

In the Determining Efficacy: Comparison of Initiating Denosumab vs. Alendronate (DECIDE) trial, researchers randomly assigned 1,189 healthy postmenopausal women to receive either denosumab injection twice a year plus a placebo tablet or a placebo injection and oral alendronate. In each group 77% of patients preferred subcutaneous injection over oral pills and 80% were satisfied with the frequency (P<.0001).

For more information:

Gold DT. #M372. Presented at: American Society for Bone and Mineral Research 30th Annual Meeting; Sept. 12-16, 2008; Montreal, Canada.