Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0153690 (bone metastases)
 6,382 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Single determination of CA 15.3 and bone scintigraphy were performed on the same day as follow-up procedures in 864 patients with breast cancer. The sensitivity and specificity of bone scintigraphy for skeletal metastases were 99% and 88.8%, respectively. The overall sensitivity and specificity of CA 15.3 (cut-off for pathological values greater than 30 U/mL) for cancer recurrence or distant metastases were 69.2% and 92.1%, respectively. The sensitivity of CA 15.3 for bone metastases was lower (69.4%) than that of bone scintigraphy. This was mainly due to the relatively high proportion of false-negative CA 15.3 levels in patients with 1-2 bone metastases (sensitivity = 33.3%). According to this result, the circulating levels of CA 15.3 showed a good correlation with tumor extension and, in patients with bone metastases, with the number of skeletal lesions. As regards the contribution of CA 15.3 to the diagnosis of bone metastases, the demonstration of elevated CA 15.3 values in patients with positive bone scintigraphy could support the diagnosis of skeletal metastases. In fact, the positive predictive value of CA 15.3 in patients with positive bone scintigraphy was significantly higher than with only bone scintigraphy (53.8%) or CA 15.3 (50.4%). Finally, very high values of CA 15.3 in patients with known bone metastases could indicate the presence of visceral metastases (mean CA 15.3 in patients with bone metastases = 125.8 U/mL; mean CA 15.3 in patients with bone and visceral metastases = 420.5 U/mL).
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PMID:Single determination of CA 15.3 and bone scintigraphy in the diagnosis of skeletal metastases of breast cancer. 145 Feb 26

Patients with cancer and bone metastases are vulnerable to severe pain, especially when changing their body position, and many such persons die with unrelieved pain. One step in obtaining acceptable pain control is communicating one's pain to health care providers. This descriptive study aimed to depict possible gender differences in the meaning of pain in the context of pain self-report and self-management decision making for 10 men and 10 women with cancer and bone metastasis. No clear gender differences were found in the narrative data obtained during semistructured interviews. Both men and women equated pain with cancer recurrence. Pain interfered with work, social activities, and relationships. Most participants preferred not to tell others, even health care providers, about their pain. More than one half of the 20 participants did not take pain medications on schedules recommended by physicians. The study findings provide oncology nurses with direction for education related to pain management for persons with metastatic bone pain and their family members. Further research with a larger sample is needed to clarify how to overcome barriers to better pain management in this population.
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PMID:Metastatic bone pain. Meanings associated with self-report and self-management decision making. 1076 80

The bone marrow microenvironment provides a site for cancer cells to evade systemic anticancer therapy. Dormant tumor micrometastases are believed to be the source of disease persistence and relapse; however, the exact characteristics of cancer stem cells vs. cancer cells with limited metastatic potential have yet to be elucidated. Bisphosphonates inhibit osteoclast-mediated bone resorption, are approved for treating malignant bone disease from advanced cancers, and have shown efficacy for preventing cancer treatment-induced bone loss. Altering the bone marrow microenvironment to make it less conducive to cancer cell survival is now emerging as an important means to prevent cancer recurrence. This review aims to distill the diverse literature and provide a brief overview of the numerous preclinical and early clinical studies of bisphosphonates demonstrating a variety of direct and indirect anticancer activities that affect both the tumor cell (the "seed") and surrounding microenvironment (the "soil"). Recently, zoledronic acid was found to improve disease-free survival and overall survival in some adjuvant breast cancer settings and prolonged survival in patients with multiple myeloma and other advanced cancers. In the prostate cancer setting, antiresorptive therapy was reported to delay the development of overt bone metastases. Ongoing studies will provide further insight regarding the anticancer potential of bisphosphonates and other antiresorptive agents.
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PMID:Direct and indirect anticancer activity of bisphosphonates: a brief review of published literature. 2198 64