Reduced spinal bone mass in patients with uterine cervical cancer

Bone destruction and hypercalcemia are well-recognized complications in a variety of neoplasms without bone metastasis. Reduction in the volume of trabecular bone has been confirmed by histomorphometric study, but not by bone densitometer. We measured spinal bone mineral densities by dual-photon absorptiometry in 85 patients with invasive uterine cervical cancer and compared them with measurements from 148 control women. When adjusted for age and menopause duration, mean bone mineral density in patients with uterine cervical cancer was 12.8% lower (P = .0003) and age-matched percentiles were 9.1% lower (P = .0003) than in control women. The deficits in bone mineral density and age-matched percentiles were confined to the uterine cervical cancer patients in their fifties, ie, less than 5 years' menopause duration. Serum concentrations of calcium, phosphate, creatinine, and alkaline phosphatase were not different between control women and the patients with uterine cervical cancer. The results suggest that women with uterine cervical cancer have an increased risk of developing osteoporosis.