[Biochemical markers of bone turnover and their use]

Although the clinician's ability to diagnose and monitor bone disease has improved in the past decade, there is still a need for more specific methods of assessing disturbances in bone metabolism. This article presents a review of biochemical bone markers and their practical applications in various disease states. Bone resorption and formation markers are considered to be useful in diagnosis and anticancer treatment of primary osseous tumours and metastatic bone diseases. However, better understanding of cellular and molecular events in the different phases of remodeling seems to be necessary to develop more adequate clinical diagnostic procedures and treatment for bone diseases.