http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. An international team of researchers has found that the use of bisphosphonates - drugs already taken by millions of healthy women to prevent bone-loss - for more than one year was associated with a 50 percent reduction in the risk of postmenopausal colorectal cancer. The results were published this week in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. http://phys.org/news217090776.html Medicine & Health Wed, 16 Feb 2011 15:00:00 EST news217090776 Osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ) is a debilitating bone condition that affects the jaws and occurs as a result of reduced local blood supply to the bone. The literature in this area has been severely limited since most investigations cannot evaluate sufficient numbers of afflicted individuals to accurately determine the incidence of the disease and associated risk factors. Today, the International and American Associations for Dental Research's Journal of Dental Research (JDR) released a research report that estimates the prevalence of the disease, and a case-control study on bisphosphonate use and other risk factors. These investigations published in the JDR represent some of the largest published studies to date on ONJ patients, and the researchers involved utilized the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research-supported Practice-based Research Networks (PBRNs). http://phys.org/news216647838.html Medicine & Health Fri, 11 Feb 2011 12:10:03 EST news216647838 (AP) -- Doctors are reporting a stunning setback for a promising new approach for fighting breast cancer. http://phys.org/news211124779.html Medicine & Health Thu, 09 Dec 2010 13:46:41 EST news211124779 Taking time off from certain osteoporosis drugs may be beneficial to bone health, according to a study conducted at Loyola University Health System. Researchers found that bone density remained stable for three years in patients who took a drug holiday from bisphosphonates, a popular class of osteoporosis drugs that can cause fractures in the thigh bones and tissue decay in the jaw bone. http://phys.org/news209311814.html Medicine & Health Thu, 18 Nov 2010 14:30:01 EST news209311814 (AP) -- Government health officials warned doctors and patients Wednesday about an increased risk of thigh fractures with a widely used group of bone-strengthening drugs. http://phys.org/news206202342.html Medicine & Health Wed, 13 Oct 2010 15:25:57 EST news206202342 (PhysOrg.com) -- Most hip fractures due to osteoporosis follow a pattern: the patient falls, and the bones around the hip joint shatter into pieces. But 2 to 3 years ago, orthopedic surgeons began seeing an increase in unusual breaks that snapped the thighbone in two, often with no warning. http://phys.org/news204302182.html Medicine & Health Tue, 21 Sep 2010 15:36:48 EST news204302182 People who take oral bisphosphonates for bone disease over five years may be doubling their risk of developing oesophageal cancer (cancer of the gullet), according to a new study published in the British Medical Journal today. http://phys.org/news202674130.html Medicine & Health Thu, 02 Sep 2010 19:22:28 EST news202674130 Although some reports have suggested a link between the use of oral bisphosphonates (drugs that prevent the loss of bone mass) and esophageal cancer, analysis of medical data from more than 80,000 patients in the United Kingdom found that use of these drugs was not significantly associated with new cases of esophageal or gastric cancer, according to a study in the August 11 issue of JAMA. http://phys.org/news200669975.html Medicine & Health Tue, 10 Aug 2010 16:10:04 EST news200669975 People undergoing bisphosphonate therapy to prevent or treat osteoporosis (a thinning of the bones) may be unfamiliar with the drug and possible adverse side effects on oral health, according to a study in the May issue of the Journal of the American Dental Association (JADA). http://phys.org/news194097925.html Medicine & Health Wed, 26 May 2010 13:06:05 EST news194097925 The occurrence of an unusual type of fracture of the femur, or the thigh bone, is very low in patients with osteoporosis, including those treated with the drug family known as bisphosphonates, according to a new study led by a team of UCSF epidemiologists. http://phys.org/news188671881.html Medicine & Health Wed, 24 Mar 2010 17:51:51 EST news188671881 Bisphosphonate treatments, proven to enhance bone density and reduce fracture incidence in post-menopausal women, may adversely affect bone quality and increase risk of atypical fractures of the femur when used for four or more years, according to preliminary research presented today at the 2010 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS). http://phys.org/news187430768.html Medicine & Health Wed, 10 Mar 2010 08:06:20 EST news187430768 Women who take some types of bone-building drugs used to prevent and treat osteoporosis may be at lower risk of breast cancer, according to a study by U.S. researchers published today in the British Journal of Cancer. http://phys.org/news186780497.html Medicine & Health Tue, 02 Mar 2010 19:50:01 EST news186780497 A research project looking for ways to reduce bone loss in astronauts may yield methods of improving the bone health of cancer patients undergoing radiation treatment. http://phys.org/news172237370.html Medicine & Health Tue, 15 Sep 2009 13:00:07 EST news172237370 Until now, the mode of action of nitrogen-containing bisphosphonate (N-BP) cancer drugs, used to relieve bone pain and to prevent skeletal complications in bone metastasis, has been almost entirely unknown. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access journal Genome Biology have used 'barcoded' yeast mutants to identify new biological processes involved in the cellular response to N-BPs, opening up opportunities for the development of new anticancer drugs. http://phys.org/news171743837.html Biology Wed, 09 Sep 2009 19:38:01 EST news171743837 Dietary supplements claiming to help postmenopausal women with bone health may not be doing what they say, according to new research from Purdue University. http://phys.org/news171119366.html Medicine & Health Wed, 02 Sep 2009 14:12:00 EST news171119366 Twice-yearly treatment with denosumab, a new targeted therapy to stop bone loss, increased bone density and prevented spinal fractures in men receiving androgen-deprivation therapy for prostate cancer. The report from an international research study, the first to document reduced fracture risk in men receiving the hormone-blocking treatment, will appear in the August 20 New England Journal of Medicine and is receiving early online release. http://phys.org/news169209573.html Medicine & Health Tue, 11 Aug 2009 12:10:03 EST news169209573 Monitoring bone mineral density in postmenopausal women taking osteoporosis drugs (bisphosphonates) is unnecessary and potentially misleading, concludes a study published on BMJ.com today. http://phys.org/news165005376.html Medicine & Health Tue, 23 Jun 2009 20:40:01 EST news165005376 Breast cancer patients, individuals at risk for osteoporosis and those undergoing certain types of bone cancer therapies often take drugs containing bisphosphonates. These drugs have been found to place people at risk for developing osteonecrosis of the jaws (a rotting of the jaw bones). http://phys.org/news160940557.html Medicine & Health Thu, 07 May 2009 18:43:09 EST news160940557 A team of 24 researchers from the U.S., Europe, Taiwan and Japan and led by University of Illinois scientists has engineered a new anti-cancer agent that is about 200 times more active in killing tumor cells than similar drugs used in recent clinical trials. http://phys.org/news157212292.html Medicine & Health Wed, 25 Mar 2009 15:05:23 EST news157212292 Researchers at the University Of Southern California, School Of Dentistry release results of clinical data that links oral bisphosphonates to increased jaw necrosis. The study is among the first to acknowledge that even short-term use of common oral osteoporosis drugs may leave the jaw vulnerable to devastating necrosis, according to the report appearing in the January 1 Journal of the American Dental Association (JADA). http://phys.org/news150034433.html Medicine & Health Thu, 01 Jan 2009 12:13:53 EST news150034433