Introduction: The incidence rate and risk factors of antiresorptive agent-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (ARONJ) in prostate cancer patients with bone metastasis are not clear.
Materials and methods: We retrospectively reviewed patients' records of prostate cancer patients with bone metastasis who were treated with zoledronic acid or denosumab between 1/Dec/2008 and 31/Mar/2019. ARONJ-free survival rate was analyzed with Kaplan-Meier analysis, and risk factors for ARONJ were analyzed with Cox proportional hazard model.
Results: We identified 124 and 67 patients treated with zoledronic acid and denosumab, respectively. Seventy-six patients were hormone sensitive, and 115 patients were castration resistant when they started bone-modifying agents (BMA). Twenty-eight patients developed ARONJ during the observation period (median: 23 months, range 1-130 months). Their number of doses of BMA ranged 3-69 (median: 21.5). The 2-year ARONJ-free survival rate was 91.1%, and the 5-year ARONJ-free survival rate was 72.5%. There was no significant difference in the incidence rate of ARONJ between zoledronic acid and denosumab. However, multivariate analysis revealed that use of denosumab (hazard ratio [HR] 3.67, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.01-13.31; p = 0.0484), serum calcium < 9.2 mg/dL (HR 3.16, 95% CI 1.10-9.13; p = 0.033)), and concomitant or prior use of chemotherapeutic agents (HR 4.71, 95% CI 1.51-14.71; p = 0.0076) were independent risk factors for the development of ARONJ.
Conclusion: Almost one-quarter of patients had a risk of developing ARONJ within 5 years after starting BMA. Low serum calcium, use of chemotherapeutic agents, and use of denosumab might contribute to the development of ARONJ.
Keywords: ADT; ARONJ; Denosumab; Prostate cancer; Zoledronic acid.