Continued Focus on Bone Metastases to Improve Outcomes and Patient Care in Prostate Cancer
Bone metastases are at the center of advanced prostate cancer care, with over 90% of patients with metastatic prostate cancer expected to have bone involvement.1 These metastatic sites can be a cause of substantial pain in our patients, and they have been a key target for therapeutic development. Bone targeted agents have been developed to reduce fragility fractures and skeletal related events, and are now an integral part of the care of patients with metastatic prostate cancer,2,3 Further, radium-223 is a bone-targeted radiopharmaceutical that not only reduces pain burden but was also the first radiopharmaceutical to prolong survival in patients with prostate cancer. Over time prostate cancer studies have investigated the prognostic implications of bone metastases in comparison with other sites and helped us gain insight into the potential future progression or responsiveness of disease.4 Bone metastases have played a large role in the clinical care of patients with prostate cancer, and our approach to them continues to evolve.
