At this week’s 2011 CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, researchers from the University of Vienna, Austria, reported that bone drug called Zometa (zoledronic acid) can notably improve survival rates in breast cancer patients.

According to the researchers, Zometa – a treatment aimed at protecting the bone health in patients diagnosed with pre-menopausal ER (estrogen receptor)-positive breast cancer – apparently has as favorable an effect as chemotherapy, on the survival rates of breast cancer patients.

On the basis of the results of their trial involving 1,803 women suffering from pre-menopausal ER-positive breast cancer, the researchers said that survival of the patients improved considerably when they were administered zoledronic acid in tandem with adjuvant endocrine treatment, including ovarian function suppression.

The researchers further specified that the bone drug brought about a 36 percent fall in the death risk of the breast cancer patients, as well as a 28 percent drop in the risk of recurrence of the cancer.

With the data presented by the researchers coming after follow-up periods of four years, five years and two months, and seven years, it was concluded that not only did the breast cancer recurrences decline “drastically at 7 years, but there was also an improvement in the survival rates. In addition, there were no reports of any toxic side-effects resulting from the Zometa treatment.

Commenting on the findings, Michael Gnant - Professor of Surgery at the University of Vienna's Medical School – said: “The continued success of this treatment means we can intervene early and still observe persistence of the benefit of treatment.”