Table 1.

Studies of intravenous bisphosphonate compared with placebo or no treatment

Bisphosphonate	No of patients	Eligibility criteria	% of patients with bone only disease enrolled in study	Primary end point	Results (P value of difference from placebo)
Ibandronate2	466	Life expectancy >60 weeks	66-69%	Skeletal morbidity period rate*	Ibandronate 6 mg: 1.19 (0.004)
					Ibandronate 2 mg: 1.31 (0.152) Placebo: 1.48
Pamidronate3	754	Life expectancy >9 months	64-66%	Skeletal morbidity rate† (+hypercalcaemia of malignancy)	Pamidronate 90 mg: 2.5 (<0.001) Placebo: 4.0
Pamidronate4	404	Life expectancy at least 3 months	54-57%	Cumulative skeletal symptom events	Pamidronate 60 mg: 200 (0.0042) Placebo: 278
Pamidronate5	372	Life expectancy at least 9 months	66-72%	Skeletal morbidity rate	Pamidronate 90 mg: 2.4 (0.008) Placebo: 3.8
Pamidronate6	382	Life expectancy at least 9 months	60-62%	Proportion of patients in whom any skeletal related event occurred	Pamidronate 90 mg: 43% (0.008) Placebo: 56%
Pamidronate7	295	N/A	52-58%	Progression of disease in bone (days)	Pamidronate45 mg: 249 (0.02) No bisphosphonate: 168
				Marked pain reduction (%)	Pamidronate 45mg: 44% (0.025) No bisphosphonate: 30%

N/A=Not available.

^*Number of 12 week periods with new skeletal complications divided by the number of periods on study.

^†Ratio of the number of skeletal complications experienced by a patient divided by the time on the trial by the end of the specified time period.