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The Role of Chemotherapy in the Treatment of Bone Metastases

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Bone Metastases

Part of the book series: Cancer Metastasis – Biology and Treatment ((CMBT,volume 12))

Abstract

In the event of malignancy the skeleton is one of the most commonly affected organs. Metastatic bone disease is associated with significant morbidity and severe complications and has become an increasingly important quality of life issue. The four main treatment modalities that are currently used for the management of bone metastases are medical treatment (including chemotherapy, bisphosphonates, and hormone therapy), radiotherapy, radiopharmaceuticals and surgery. In most cases the above treatments are either used sequentially or con-comitantly, depending on the extent and location of metastases, associated symptoms, performance status and prognosis of patients.

Combination chemotherapy has shown to be an effective treatment for the overall management of patients with bone metastases, especially for patients with metastatic breast, prostate and small cell lung cancer. The therapeutic outcome and response rates are though limited in chemotherapy-resistant tumors such as non small cell lung cancer and melanoma.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Oncology, University of Patras Medical School, 26504 Patras, Greece

    Thomas Makatsoris & Haralabos P. Kalofonos

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  1. Thomas Makatsoris
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  2. Haralabos P. Kalofonos
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Correspondence to Thomas Makatsoris .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Radiation Oncology, University of Patras Medical School, 265 04, Patras, Greece

    Dimitrios Kardamakis MD, PhD, DMRT  & Vassilios Vassiliou MD, PhD  & 

  2. Dept. of Radiation Oncology, University of Toronto Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, 2075 Bayview Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, M4N 3M5, Canada

    Edward Chow MBBS, PhD, FRCPC

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Makatsoris, T., Kalofonos, H.P. (2009). The Role of Chemotherapy in the Treatment of Bone Metastases. In: Kardamakis, D., Vassiliou, V., Chow, E. (eds) Bone Metastases. Cancer Metastasis – Biology and Treatment, vol 12. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9819-2_14

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