Prevention and Treatment of Pathologic Femur Fractures: Evidence as of 2019

This chapter is largely drawn from the recently published (2019) clinical practice guideline on the treatment of metastatic carcinoma and myeloma of the femur jointly produced by the Musculoskeletal Tumor Society, American Society for Radiation Oncology, and American Society of Clinical Oncology. Previous clinical practice guidelines on this topic broadly addressed the potential benefits of bone-targeted agents (eg, diphosphonates) on skeletal-related events, a broad term that encompasses pathologic fractures of any bone, need for surgery or radiation, and hypercalcemia. Guidelines on the use of palliative radiation therapy primarily focused on short-term pain control and long-term radiation-induced adverse effects. The starting goals of this guideline were twofold-focus on the femur, as fractures of the femur almost always require surgery and, when about the hip, dramatically alter patients' quality of life and, potentially, survival; and to address this topic in a multidisciplinary fashion that includes the insights of orthopaedic surgeons, along with radiation oncologists and medical oncologists. For many important clinical topics, there is a dearth of evidence, which will hopefully prompt researchers and funding agencies to help fill these evidentiary gaps.