A study published in Cancer found that a high proportion of women with gynecologic cancers had significant decreases in bone mineral density (BMD) following pelvic radiotherapy, with 7.8% of women in the study diagnosed with a pelvic fracture.
These findings indicate that BMD screening and pharmacologic intervention should be strongly considered for these high-risk women.
“To date, there are limited data regarding the effects of [radiotherapy] on the bone turnover process,” the authors wrote. “Bone remodeling or turnover is a complex process involving osteoblasts (bone formation) and osteoclasts (bone resorption). [Radiotherapy] has been shown to directly affect this process and result in reduction in overall bone mass.”
Researchers retrospectively evaluated 239 women who had pelvic radiotherapy for cervical, endometrial, or vaginal cancer between 2008 and 2015. BMD scans…
