[Bone metastases responsive to pamidronate therapy in breast cancer]

A 66-year-old woman with locally advanced and metastatic breast carcinoma received combination chemotherapy, which comprised mitomycinC (total 84 mg) and anthracyclines (total : epirubicin 350 mg and pirarubicin 450 mg). She had been alive without tumor progression for more than one year thanks to these chemotherapies. Nevertheless, she thereafter complained of severe bone pain due to progression of bone disease. Since morphine administration could not give her sufficient pain relief, we tried to treat her bone pain with pamidronate in a dose of 30 mg weekly or biweekly. The pamidronate markedly relieved her bone pain and improved osteolytic bone lesions. In conclusion, pamidronate therapy can be a promising therapeutic modality for bone-derived pain in terminal patients.