Critical Role Of The Bone Microenvironment In Cancer Metastases - Treating Bone Metastases In...

UroToday.com - Most men with advanced, hormone refractory prostate cancer have metastases which occur preferentially in the skeleton (1). Why is this bad? Bone metastases are incurable and cause skeletal-related events (SREs) that contribute substantial morbidity: fractures, nerve compression, and severe bone pain. The linked article describes the basic mechanisms that drive bone metastases in a variety of solid tumors. The take-home lesson is that bone itself offers an important target for treatment. What treatments are available? Although prostate cancer causes mostly osteoblastic lesions, bone resorption by these metastases is very active. It can be inhibited by drugs such as the approved bisphosphonate, zoledronic acid. Two newer classes of anti-resorptive drugs developed for use in osteoporosis are performing well in... [read full story]                    

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