In hemodialysis patients with moderate to severe secondary hyperparathyroidism, cinacalcet plus low-dose vitamin D sterols may attenuate vascular and cardiac valve calcification.

IMPORTANCESecondary hyperparathyroidism contributes to extraskeletal calcification and is associated with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. Control is suboptimal in the majority of patients receiving hemodialysis. An intravenously (IV) administered calcimimetic could improve adherence and reduce adverse gastrointestinal effects. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the relative efficacy and safety of the IV calcimimetic etelcalcetide and the oral calcimimetic cinacalcet. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTSA randomized, double-blind, double-dummy active clinical trial was conducted comparing IV etelcalcetide vs oral placebo and oral cinacalcet vs IV placebo in 683 patients receiving hemodialysis with serum parathyroid hormone (PTH) concentrations higher than 500 pg/mL on active therapy at 164 sites in the United States,

Background-Patients with kidney disease have disordered bone and mineral metabolism, including elevated serum concentrations of fibroblast growth factor-23 (FGF23). These elevated concentrations are associated with cardiovascular and all-cause mortality. The objective was to determine the effects of the calcimimetic cinacalcet (versus placebo) on reducing serum FGF23 and whether changes in FGF23 are associated with death and cardiovascular events. Methods and Results-This was a secondary analysis of a randomized clinical trial comparing cinacalcet to placebo in addition to conventional therapy (phosphate binders/vitamin D) in patients receiving hemodialysis with secondary hyperparathyroidism (intact parathyroid hormone ≥300 pg/mL). The primary study end point was time to death or a first nonfatal cardiovascular event (myocardial infarction, hospitalization for angina, heart failure, or a peripheral vascular event). This analysis included 2985 patients (77% of randomized) with serum samples at baseline and 2602 patients (67%) with samples at both baseline and week 20. The results demonstrated that a significantly larger proportion of patients randomized to cinacalcet had ≥30% (68% versus 28%) reductions in FGF23. Among patients randomized to cinacalcet, a ≥30% reduction in FGF23 between baseline and week 20 was associated with a nominally significant reduction in the primary composite end point (relative hazard, 0.82; 95% confidence interval, 0.69-0.98), cardiovascular mortality (relative hazard, 0.66; 95% confidence interval, 0.50-0.87), sudden cardiac death (relative hazard, 0.57; 95% confidence interval, 0.37-0.86), and heart failure (relative hazard, 0.69; 95% confidence interval, 0.48-0.99). Conclusions-Treatment with cinacalcet significantly lowers serum FGF23. Treatment-induced reductions in serum FGF23are associated with lower rates of cardiovascular death and major cardiovascular events. Clinical Trial Registration-URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT00345839.