Objectives: There are known risk factors and established treatment protocols for bisphosphonate-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (BRONJ), but it remains a difficult disease to treat, with the risk of relapses. This study investigates whether or not there is a relationship between antiestrogen therapy and BRONJ.
Patients and methods: In our prospective study, we followed up 93 patients with BRONJ who were seen at our clinic between 2006 and 2011.
Results: We found that breast cancer patients had a significantly worse prognosis than patients with other underlying illnesses (p < 0.01), which might indicate the role of antiestrogen therapy (p < 0.001) as a causative factor.
Conclusion: The dominance of the female gender among BRONJ patients as well as our new findings related to antiestrogen therapy of breast cancer raise the possibility that estrogen deficiency might be a newly discovered risk factor for BRONJ.
Keywords: Antiestrogen therapy; Bisphosphonate; Breast cancer; Estrogen deficiency; Jaw; Osteonecrosis.
Copyright © 2014 European Association for Cranio-Maxillo-Facial Surgery. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.