Radiation Therapy for Bone Metastases

What are Bone Metastases?

• Cancer that starts in one part of the body can sometimes spread and invade other organs. If a tumor spreads to the bone, this process is called a bone metastasis.
• When bone metastases occur, they are sometimes called “bone cancer”. However, in most cases, bone metastases are the spread of the original cancer through the blood stream or lymph vessels to the bone. So instead of having both bone cancer and breast cancer, for example, a person has breast cancer that has spread to the bone. True bone cancers, where the cancer starts in the bone itself, can occur but are very rare.
• Cancers that often spread to the bone include breast, kidney, lung, multiple myeloma, prostate and thyroid cancers.
• Cancer treatments have improved in recent years, allowing many patients to live longer with cancer than ever before. Unfortunately, bone metastases still occur in many patients sometimes months or even years after an original cancer treatment. There are many treatment options available for patients with bone metastases.