Malignancy and the skeleton

Bone is one of the three most common sites of tumor metastasis. Bone metastasis is a catastrophic complication of cancer, since it is not only associated with intractable pain, but also with other morbidity such as hypercalcemia which usually hastens an uncomfortable death. Despite the importance of bone metastasis/hypercalcemia, until recently clinicians have used specific therapies only for the treatment of hypercalcemia but not for bone metastasis. During this presentation, I will review our current understanding of some of the steps involved in the pathophysiology of bone metastasis and its association with hypercalcemia, and how I think these complications of cancer should be treated.