The Effectiveness of Denosumab in the Treatment of Postmenopausal Osteoporosis

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of denosumab to treat postmenopausal osteoporosis, and the impact of prior osteoporosis drug use and the duration of denosumab use on the success of the treatment. Materials and Methods: In all, 116 patients who had been diagnosed with postmenopausal osteoporosis and were treated with denosumab were enrolled in the study. The primary study groups were those who had used oral bisphosphonates before denosumab treatment (n=88) and those who had not (n=28). The outcome measures were the L1-L4 lumbar vertebra, total femur, and femoral neck T-scores, and bone mineral density (BMD) values. All of the patients were evaluated pre-treatment and again at 1 and 2 years after denosumab treatment. Results: Significant improvements were seen in the total vertebral BMD and T-scores, total femur, and femoral neck BMD and T-scores in both patient groups 1 year after treatment. The total lumbar vertebra BMD and T-scores were statistically significantly higher in the group that had not used oral bisphosphonates compared with those of the group that had used oral bisphosphonates. The total femur and femoral neck BMD and T-scores were also significantly higher after 2 years of use of denosumab in comparison with the results at 1 year of use. Conclusion: The results indicated that denosumab is an effective treatment for postmenopausal osteoporosis; however, additional randomized controlled studies are needed to further examine the effectiveness of long-term denosumab treatment and prior bisphosphonate use.