Bone contains specialized cells that deposit new bone tissue or resorb old tissue. Bone cancer develops as a result of acquired genetic mutations to bone cells, leading to rapid and constant cell proliferation and the growth of tumors. Bone cancer growth begins in one region, but if left untreated or undetected the cancer can spread to multiple tissues in a process called metastasis. Patients with metastatic bone cancer may receive several cancer treatments to halt additional cancer spread or to relieve pain and suffering.
Chemotherapy
One treatment for metastatic bone cancer is systemic chemotherapy—using drugs toxic to cells to effectively damage and kill cancer cells. There are a range of chemotherapy drugs targeted at a number of essential cellular processes and structures that ultimately kill bone cancer cells. The drugs travel throughout the body in the bloodstream, attacking tumor growth in bone tissue as well as any tumors in distant tissues formed as a result of metastasis. During cancer treatment, a patient may receive chemotherapy along with other cancer treatments to effectively fight metastatic bone cancer, according to Cancer Research UK.
Radiation Therapy
In some cases, patients may receive radiation therapy to treat metastatic bone cancer. Radiation therapy involves targeting a beam of radiation into the tumor, exposing cancer cells to a high dose of damaging radiation. Since the radiation is concentrated into the tumor, surrounding tissue does not typically receive a significant dose of radiation, so it is usually left relatively unharmed. In many cases, cancer growths concentrated within one part of the body may cause significant discomfort and pain associated with tumor growth. These patients may receive radiation therapy to treat these tumors, relieve pain and increase their quality of life as their cancer progresses, reports the American Cancer Society.
Surgery
In other cases, patients with metastatic bone cancer may undergo surgery to remove cancer metastases. Some parts of the body may develop multiple cancer or large tumor growths. Surgery to remove large or clustered bone cancer metastases can help slow tumor growth around the site of surgery. Patients may also undergo surgery to remove cancerous tumors causing discomfort and pain, to increase the patient’s quality of life.
