Increasing Options for the Treatment of Osteoporosis

• Published in: The New England journal of medicine Vol. 361; no. 8; pp. 818 - 820
• Main Author: Khosla, Sundeep
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Massachusetts Medical Society 20-08-2009
• Subjects: Antibodies, Monoclonal - adverse effects; Antibodies, Monoclonal - therapeutic use; Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; Bone density; Bone Density Conservation Agents - adverse effects; Bone Density Conservation Agents - economics; Bone Density Conservation Agents - therapeutic use; Denosumab; Diphosphonates - adverse effects; Diphosphonates - economics; Diphosphonates - therapeutic use; FDA approval; Female; Fractures, Bone - prevention & control; Humans; Male; Older people; Osteoporosis; Osteoporosis - drug therapy; RANK Ligand - adverse effects; RANK Ligand - therapeutic use; Studies; Women
• ISSN: 0028-4793; 1533-4406
• DOI: 10.1056/NEJMe0905480

More than a decade ago, receptor activator of nuclear factor-κB ligand (RANKL) was identified as the key molecule mediating osteoclast development, activity, and survival.
1
Since osteoporosis results, in part, from increased osteoclastic bone resorption, the inhibition of RANKL activity has been an obvious therapeutic target. In this issue of the
Journal
, two articles
2
,
3
report pivotal studies that reflect more than 10 years of drug development and that establish the efficacy of a human monoclonal antibody to RANKL, denosumab, in reducing fractures.
Cummings et al.
2
enrolled 7868 postmenopausal women with osteoporosis and randomly assigned them to receive either 60 . . .