Bisphosphonates in cancer therapy

Bisphosphonates are the standard of care in the treatment of malignant bone diseases, because of their ability to inhibit osteoclast-mediated bone destruction. We review here preclinical evidence that bisphosphonates also exert direct antitumour effects and antiangiogenic properties. Furthermore, we describe new insights on how bisphosphonates may act synergistically in combination with antineoplastic drugs or gamma delta T cells to exhibit antitumour activity. These findings reveal new exciting possibilities to fully exploit the antitumour potential of bisphosphonates in the clinical practice. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.