CHICAGO, Ill--4 Jun--PRNewswire-AsiaNet/InfoQuest -- One Year Results From the ARIBON Study Presented at ASCO 2007 Bondronat(R) (ibandronic acid) has been shown to prevent bone loss caused by anastrozole in post-menopausal women given adjuvant therapy for early breast cancer according to results from the ARIBON study presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting in Chicago.(1) The study also found that Bondronat significantly increased bone mineral density in the treated women.(1) Whilst anastrozole is an effective breast cancer treatment, its use is associated with a decline in bone mineral density and an increased risk of bone fracture in some women.(2),(3) "These study results are very encouraging as they demonstrate that Bondronat can prevent loss of bone in early breast cancer patients with low bone density who are given anastrozole," said Dr Jim Lester, lead study investigator, Cancer Research Centre, Weston Park Hospital, Sheffield, UK. "anastrozole is an important therapy against breast cancer but we clearly want to avoid reducing bone density and increasing the risk of fractures and osteoporosis in our at-risk patients." The ARIBON study evaluated the use of Bondronat, 150mg orally once a month, in post-menopausal breast cancer patients taking anastrozole who were osteopenic (had mild thinning of bones) or osteoporotic (more severe bone density loss). After one year, results showed:(1) -- Women with osteopenia treated with Bondronat gained +2.78% and +1.35% of bone density at the lumbar spine and hip respectively. Patients treated with placebo lost -2.61% at the lumbar spine and -2.34% at the hip. (p