OncologySTAT: Where are we right now with bisphosphonates in terms of risk/benefit assessment in patients with cancer? Dr. Lipton: Prior to the approval of pamidronate in the early 1990s, there was no treatment for patients with bone metastasis, and about two-thirds of patients had skeletal events within 2 years of entry into the placebo arm of clinical trials. The data around Aredia® (pamidronate) showed a significant decrease in skeletal-related events (SREs) and, subsequently, in about 2002, when...