Osteosarcoma occurrence in pre-clinical and clinical experiments with teriparatide: A qualitative review

Teriparatide (TPTD) is one of the medications commonly prescribed for the treatment of osteoporosis since its approval in November 2002 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. While some preclinical toxicological studies have linked the drug to a dose-dependent increase in the occurrence of osteosarcoma, clinical trials showed the benefits outweighing the risk for TPTD-induced human osteosarcoma. The objective of this qualitative review was to qualitatively assess the literature for the association of osteosarcoma and the usage of TPTD in animal and human subjects. Studies were selected from all available records in the electronic databases covering the period from January 1, 2002, to September 30, 2020. While using rats as the study specimen showed some risks to osteosarcoma dependent on dose and duration of administration, clinical trials proved TPTD to be a safe treatment in humans. It is worthwhile investigating longer treatment periods than the 2 years labeled period for TPTD for safety purposes.