The effect of breast cancer history on bone mineral density in the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis: One-year follow-up results

Aim: Breast cancer patients who get certain chemotherapeutic agents are more likely to experience early menopause and to suffer osteoporotic fractures at a younger age. This study investigated the impact of breast cancer history on bone mineral density (BMD) levels in postmenopausal osteoporosis (OP) treatment.
Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective case-control study analyzed 65 female cases diagnosed with OP, including 32 patients with stable breast cancer who had undergone chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy but not within the last 5 years, and 33 matched controls. Demographic characteristics, total lumbar and femoral neck BMD levels and biochemical parameters were recorded for both groups.
Results: Before treatment, femoral neck T-score and serum Ca levels were lower in the patient group than in the control group (p=0.038, p=0.007, respectively). There was no difference between groups for the first year (p>0.05), but when the change within a group was examined, only the patient group showed a significant increase in femoral neck T-score and serum Ca levels (p=0.027, p=0.001, respectively). Patients who received radiotherapy had lower femoral neck BMD levels before and after treatment than those who did not receive radiotherapy (p=0.021, p=0.024, respectively), and the post-treatment recovery was not different (p>0.05).
Conclusion: This study demonstrated the success of osteoporosis treatment in patients with a previous diagnosis of breast cancer. Patients with breast cancer must be screened for osteoporosis and treated accordingly.