by Hanna Taipaleenmäki, LMU Munich
The 2023 Annual Conference of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR) was organized in Vancouver, Canada on 13th -16th October. Around 2500 attendees got together to discuss the latest discoveries and burning topics in the musculoskeletal field. Among the highlights of the meeting was a Plenary Symposium entitled “Updates and Uncertainties in Bone Targeted Therapies and Cancer”, which focused on anabolic therapies in multiple myeloma (MM) and breast cancer bone metastases. The session provided a clinical view on current bone-targeted, antiresorptive therapies, their advantages as well as limitations, raising the question whether bone anabolic therapies could be used to treat osteolytic disease. The question was addressed by pre-clinical data showing efficacy of sclerostin antibody in the treatment of MM and breast cancer bone metastases. Promising pre-clinical reports also exist on the use of PTH (Parathyroid hormone) in bone metastases, however, the results are variable and limited. Finally, encouraging case reports were presented in which anabolic therapies were used in patients with MM or bone metastases.
As a summary, although the results are promising, more pre-clinical and clinical research is needed in this area – emphasizing the importance of the work performed within the uBONE consortium! In addition to the plenary session, the “Greg Mundy Memorial Session on Bone Cancer and Metastasis” presented the latest discoveries in bone and cancer, including the role of osteocytes in metastasis, local and systemic effects of Dkk1 in breast cancer progression and the effect of immunotherapies on bone health. uBONE member Jennifer Zarrer presented her work in “Early Career Plenary Poster Spotlight” session and as a Plenary Poster. The high interest on her presentations clearly demonstrates that bone and cancer research is relevant for the ASBMR membership.
