OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of clinically used zoledronate (ZOL) and docetaxel on breast cancer cells and bone biology under both bone remodeling stages and the rate of tumor dissemination and state of dormancy. METHODS: The effect of clinically used zoledronate (ZOL) was examined on MDA-MB-231 and MDA-BO cells in a roller tube system under bone resorption and formation conditions. Three groups; calvaria alone, calvarial co-cultured with tumor cells, and calvaria with tumor cells treated with four repeat doses of 2 µM of ZOL were cultured for 8, 14 and 20 days. The formation groups were supplemented with 150 µg/ml ascorbic acid. Cell counts were performed on trypsinized calvaria harvested at 2, 8 and 14 days. Media was changed every 2 days and the changed media was re-seeded in a 24-well for 20 days. To test the impact of chemotherapy agents on cancer-bone metastasis the effect of 10 µM of docetaxel was tested on breast cancer cells under formation and resorption conditions using the above design. Tumor burden was assessed at 8 days. RESULTS: Tumor burden: no statistically significant difference between ZOL treated and untreated groups under resorption and formation conditions in both cell lines. Exposure to docetaxel revealed that ~30% of the cells were affected by chemotherapy in formation model, while ~70% was affected in resorption model in both cell types. Dissemination model: the dissemination rate for MDA and BO cells under formation condition is significantly less than for resorption conditions. Fluorescent microscopy: MDA and BO tumor-calvaria were treated with Ki 67 antibody showed that under bone resorption conditions the cancer-bone cells colony were predominantly in proliferation stage while under formation conditions cancer cells were in dormancy. Confocal microscopy: observation confirmed the relation of the mode of cancer cell attachment to bone endosteal cell layer with the dormancy and cell proliferation states. CONCLUSIONS: Both cancer cell lines showed resistance to ZOL under formation and resorption conditions. Drug resistance to docetaxel was more evident under formation condition, where cells are dormant and not proliferating. The dissemination rate is significantly higher in resorption condition, suggesting that cells in formation are dormant with lower dissemination rate. / 2019-07-23T00:00:00Z