Prevalence of osteoporosis in prostate cancer survivors II: a meta-analysis of men not on androgen deprivation therapy. By Lassemillante et al 2015
Key sentence from the paper: “…the majority of men who are potential ADT candidates already have low bone mass or osteoporosis.”
For the full abstract, see: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25636442
Commentary: This is a meta-analysis of 15 studies that collectively included 1267 men with a median age of 69.5 years. The analysis showed that men diagnosed with prostate cancer, who have not had any hormonal therapy, already have between 4 and 38% prevalence of osteoporosis. That is higher than the 6–10% prevalence for osteoporosis in similarly aged, but otherwise healthy older men.
It is well-known that the men on ADT are at increased risk of osteoporosis, but this study suggests that prostate cancer patients need to be concerned about this risk even before they go on ADT. The authors of this review strongly suggest that prostate cancer patients be educated about the risk of osteoporosis at the time of diagnosis and be encouraged to preemptively increase their calcium and vitamin D intake. They also suggest that getting a baseline bone density scan would be helpful for prostate cancer patients "to identify whether pharmacological management is needed even before ADT."
Lassemillante AC, Doi SA, Hooper JD, Prins JB, Wright OR. Prevalence of osteoporosis in prostate cancer survivors II: a meta-analysis of men not on androgen deprivation therapy. Endocrine. 2015.