Table 1.

Major trials exploring bisphosphonate activity in early breast cancer

Trial	Number of patients	Regimen	Duration (years)	Combination therapy	DFS benefit (+/−)	Bone loss benefit (+/−)
Z-Fast [45]	600	Immediate versus delayed ZA	5	Letrozol	NR	+
ZO-FAST [46]	1,065	Immediate versus delayed ZA	5	Letrozol	+	+
NSAPB-34 [44]	3,323	Oral clodronate	3	Standard therapy according to stage	– (population as a whole)	+
AZURE [47]	3,360: premenopausal, 1,504; postmenopausal, 1,531; unknown, 324	ZA	5	Standard therapy according to stage	– (but significant improvements in DFS in postmenopausal women)	+
Saarto et al. [43]	299	Oral clodronate	3	Standard therapy according to stage	29	NR
NATAN [48]	693	ZA	5	Standard therapy according to stage	– (trend for women aged >55)	NR

DFS disease-free survival, NR not reported, ZA zoledronic acid