[Two bedridden patients with bone metastases from breast cancer effectively treated with pamidronate therapy]

Case 1: A 43-year-old woman underwent mastectomy because of locally advanced breast cancer with multiple bone metastases. She was treated with CMF therapy but developed a compression fracture of a thoracic vertebra after 10 months and received pamidronate therapy. Pamidronate administration relived her back pain after 2 months and she was able to walk again after 3 months. However, she developed a resistance to the treatment, and then refused another treatment. She was found to have hypercalcemia 6 months later and received pamidronate again, but died 9 months after the treatment. Case 2: A 52-year-old woman underwent mastectomy because of breast cancer (T2) and was diagnosed as having multiple bone metastases 24 months after the operation. She could not turn over in bed due to progressing bone pain and received pamidronate therapy with CMF therapy at home 23 months after the diagnosis. After 2 months, pamidronate administration relieved her bone pain and she was free of pain after 4 months. After 5 months, X-rays revealed that lytic lesions showed sclerosis, and the pamidronate therapy was assessed as producing a PR. Pamidronate therapy improved her quality of life and activities of daily living, and she continues to receive it this time as an outpatient. Pamidronate therapy is promising as an effective treatment for bedridden patients with bone metastasis from breast cancer.