The Role of Denosumab for Surgical Outcomes in Patients with Giant Cell Tumour of Bone: A Systematic Review

Background: The role of denosumab in patients with resectable giant cell tumour of bone remains unclear. We asked the following research question: for patients (aged ≥ 12 years) with resectable giant cell tumour of bone, what are the benefits and harms of denosumab compared with no denosumab in terms of (1) facilitation of surgery (operative time, blood loss), (2) disease recurrence, (3) pain control, (4) disease stability, and (5) adverse effects (e.g., malignant transformation, osteonecrosis of jaw, atypical femur fracture)? One previous systematic review addressed only one outcome—disease recurrence. Therefore, we undertook this new systematic review to address the above five outcomes. Methods: MEDLINE, EMBASE, PubMed, and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews databases were searched on June 30, 2020. Results: This systematic review included one previous systematic review and five comparative studies. Due to poor quality, non-randomized studies fraught with selection bias, it is difficult to determine if a significant difference exists in the outcomes for surgical giant cell tumour of bone with perioperative denosumab. There were no reported cases of adverse effects from denosumab. Conclusion: To date, there is insufficient evidence to understand the value of denosumab in the perioperative setting in patients with giant cell tumour of bone.