Articles:Bone metastases

Metastases within bone can cause extreme and debilitating pain. Bone metastases are far more common than primary bone cancer, and many different cancer types can spread to the bone. The most common types of cancer which spread to bone are:

• Breast
• Prostate
• Lung
• Kidney
• Thyroid

Cancer can theoretically metastasize to any bone in the body, but in reality there is a predilection for certain sites. The most common sites are the vertebrae, ribs, pelvis, sternum, and the skull.

Classification

A bone is a rigid organ, but it is far from physiologically static. To maintain bone strength, there is continuous breakdown and simultaneous reformation of bone, two processes which must finely balance for good bone health.

Osteoblastic (or sclerotic) metastases are characterised by the deposition of new bone. These are present most commonly in prostate cancer, but also occur in carcinoid, small cell lung cancer, medulloblastoma, and Hodgkin lymphoma. The molecular crosstalk between tumour and bone cells involves osteoblast-generating proteins such as Transforming Growth Factor, Bone Morphogenic Proteins (BMPs), and Endothelin-1.

Osteolytic (or lytic) metastases are characterised by the destruction and breakdown of normal bone. These often occur when breast cancer spreads to bone, which is primarily mediated by osteoclasts (bone cells that breaks down bone tissue) and is not a direct effect of metastasized tumour cells. Other tumour types with osteolytic metastases include multiple myeloma, non-small cell lung cancer, thyroid cancer, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and Langerhans' cell histiocytosis. Osteolytic metastases are more common than osteoblastic metastases.

Mixed metastases are characterised by the presence of both osteolytic and osteoblastic lesions together in the same area of bone. These metastases are usually present in metastatic gastrointestinal and squamous cancers, as well as in secondary breast cancer. Although breast cancer gives rise to predominantly lytic lesions, around 15–20% of women have sclerotic or both types of lesions.

Diagnosis

Signs and symptoms

Bone metastases cause major morbidity, and high clinical suspicion should be kept for any patient with cancer that presents with:

• Severe pain (poorly localised, worse at night)
• Impaired mobility
• Bone fracture
• Bone marrow aplasia
• Symptoms of (metastatic) spinal cord compression (MSCC)
• Symptoms in keeping with hypercalcaemia:
  • Constipation
  • Fatigue
  • Polyuria/polydipsia
  • Acute kidney injury (AKI)
  • Cardiac arrhythmia

Bloods

When a patient with cancer presents with any of the signs or symptoms above, basic screening in the form of simple blood testing must be undertaken and complemented with appropriate imaging tests:

• Full evaluation of bone turnover and potential hypercalcaemia:
  • Serum calcium
  • Serum phosphate
  • 25-Hydroxyvitamin D
  • Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH)
  • Parathyroid hormone (PTH)
  • Serum creatinine
  • Alkaline phosphatase (ALP)
• Full blood count (myelosuppression, anaemia)
• Serum protein electrophoresis (SPEP; myeloma screen)
• Tumour markers (such as PSA in prostate cancer)

Imaging

Radiological tests are an essential component of diagnosing bony metastases. One or more imaging modalities may be required to confirm suspected cancerous spread to bone.

Plain radiographs (X-ray scans) are quick, cost-effective, and widely-available, and should be the initial diagnostic test of choice when investigating bone pain. They are highly specific but lack sensitivity (44-50%) because early-stage metastatic lesions, particularly those up to 1 cm, may be more difficult to visualise. More than 50% of the trabecular bone must be involved before the lesion will be apparent on film and, due to the poor contrast of trabecular bone, lesions within the medulla are often less evident than those within cortical bone. As outlined above, sclerotic metastases will appear more radiopaque than the surrounding bone, whereas lytic metastases will appear more radiolucent.

Bone scintigraphy (bone scans) on the other hand is highly sensitive but with low specificity. Data from Technetium-99m (^99mTc) scintigraphy have shown false-negative rates as low as 11 to 38% (good sensitivity), with false-positive rates as high as 40% (poor specificity). It thus provides a non-specific osteoblastic indication of bone status, be it inflammatory, traumatic, or neoplastic in origin. Scintigraphy is still more specific and sensitive than either plain radiography or computed tomography, whilst magnetic resonance imaging is more efficacious in assessing vertebral metastases.

Computed tomography (CT scans)

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI scans)

Positron emission tomography (PET scans)

Biopsy

?biopsy

Treatment

Radiation, bisphosphonates, denosumab, analgesia, chemo, hormonal therapies, surgery, bone cement

Living with bone metastases

Pain, mobility and safety, survival