Cancer and Your Bones

Despite treatment‚ cancer can spread from its initial location to other parts of the body. Cells from the original tumor break away and travel by way of the bloodstream and lymphatic system. This may cause complications‚ such as bone fractures‚ which may result in bone pain.

	Talk with Your Doctor About Bone Health Frequently Asked Questions About Bone Metastases

The tumors that develop at the new location are not new cancers but an extension of the original cancer. The medical name for the spreading of cancer is metastasis and the new tumors are called "metastases."

Treatment for Patients with Bone Metastases

If you require treatment for cancer that has spread to your bones‚ your doctor may recommend one or more kinds of therapy. These might include:

• Radiation therapy ‚ which targets waves of radiation directly to cancerous sites to kill cancer cells.
• Hormonal therapy‚ which blocks the effects of your natural hormones that can enhance cancer cell growth. Whether or not your doctor recommends hormonal therapy depends on your age and other important medical factors.
• Chemotherapy treatment involves the use of anticancer drugs which are primarily injected by vein or given by mouth. These drugs treat your cancer by inhibiting tumor growth‚ destroying cancer cells or other mechanisms.
• Biologic therapy‚ which uses the body’s proteins‚ or molecules that mimic or block them‚ to prevent cancer cells from reproducing.
• IV Bisphosphonate (intravenous) therapy‚ like ZOMETA‚ which helps slow the bone-destroying activity that occurs with bone metastases; fight abnormal cells that cause bone to wear away; as well as slow the abnormal buildup of unstable bone.
  IV Bisphosphonates can reduce or delay bone complications from bone metastases.

Please click on one of the following cancer types to learn more about the symptoms‚ diagnostic procedures and treatment for bone metastases‚ sometimes called “bone mets.”