[Three-dimensional microstructural analysis of human lumbar vertebrae using microcomputed tomography in bone...

Prostate cancer frequently metastasizes to bone, inducing osteosclerotic lesions. However, the morphological details of bone metastasis of prostate cancer have not been clarified. The trabecular bone structure of bone metastasis from prostate cancer was investigated in three dimensions using microcomputed tomography (micro-CT). A total of 17 cubes of the lumbar spine of a 77-year-old man with prostate cancer were excised post mortem: four of them from non-metastatic and the rest from metastatic sites. The samples were measured using micro-CT with a resolution of 23.2 microns and the standard structural indices and degree of anisotropy were computed. After micro-CT measurement, the samples were tested in a destructive manner for the assessment of mechanical properties. Samples from the metastatic sites showed significantly higher values than those from non-metastatic sites for bone volume (BV), bone surface (BS), bone volume fraction (BV/TV), trabecular thickness (Tb.Th), and trabecular number (Tb.N) (p < 0.005). Bone surface density (BS/BV) and trabecular separation (Tb.Sp) were significantly higher in the samples from non-metastatic sites (p < 0.001). Samples from metastatic sites showed a more isotropic arrangement of trabecular bone than those from non-metastatic sites. Three-dimensionally reconstructed images depicted several different patterns of sclerotic bone metastasis, and osteolytic appearance was observed in all of them. Structural parameters such as BV/TV were well correlated with the mechanical properties (r = 0.899). The present study clarified the trabecular microstructure of bone metastasis from prostate cancer and suggests that both osteolysis and osteogenesis progress while interacting with each other in all phases of bone metastasis.