Skeletal disorders in malignant disease

When the elderly are afflicted by malignancy, chances are good that at some point in the course of their illness the skeleton will be involved. Bone metastases, hypercalcemia, and other paraneoplastic syndromes are commonly encountered and require definitive diagnosis and management. In general, the therapy for the elderly patient with these disorders is the same as that for younger individuals. The diagnostic and therapeutic approach must often be tempered, however, by coexistent chronic disease, which may also affect the skeleton.