Therapeutic Drugs in Bone Loss-Associated Disorders: Clinical Outcomes and Challenges

Current therapeutic drugs for the treatment of bone loss-associated disorders such as osteoporosis and metastatic bone disease have limited clinical outcomes, namely in terms of efficiency and sustainability. Given the ageing of population in developed countries and the cumulative costs with treatment, bone loss-associated disorders represent a major socioeconomic burden worldwide. In this review, the therapeutic agents targeting bone loss tested in clinical and pre-clinical trials are summarized, as well as the challenges encountered by clinicians and patients. In an effort to attain costeffective clinical outcomes, potential cellular and signalling targets are disclosed. Keywords: Bone loss, therapy, anabolic agents, anti-resorptive agents, clinical trials, osteoclasts, osteoblasts.