# Bone metastases and skeletal-related events

Source: https://nuclide.cc/terms/bone-metastases/  
Nuclide record `bone-metastases` (Term). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from Nuclide (nuclide.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Cancer spread to the bones, most common in prostate, breast, lung, kidney and thyroid cancer and myeloma. It causes pain, fractures and high calcium, and the complications are counted in trials as 'skeletal-related events'.

## Summary

Skeletal-related events (fracture, need for radiotherapy or surgery to bone, spinal cord compression, hypercalcaemia) are reduced 30-40% by bone-modifying agents (zoledronic acid, denosumab). Single-fraction 8 Gy radiotherapy relieves pain as well as longer courses; SBRT gives more durable relief for spine metastases. Bone-seeking radiopharmaceuticals (radium-223, strontium-89) treat bone-predominant prostate cancer, and bone-only disease has a better prognosis than visceral spread in breast cancer. Spinal cord compression is an emergency needing steroids and urgent radiotherapy or surgery.

## Fields

- Kind: Term
- Last checked: 2026-09-09
- Also known as: bone metastasis; skeletal metastases; skeletal-related events; skeletal-related event; SRE; bone-only; bone-predominant; osseous metastases; pathological fracture; spinal cord compression

## Sources

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bone_metastasis
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bone_metastasis

## Connected records

- isotopes: [Phosphorus-32](https://nuclide.cc/isotopes/p-32/), [Radium-223](https://nuclide.cc/isotopes/ra-223/), [Rhenium-188](https://nuclide.cc/isotopes/re-188/), [Samarium-153](https://nuclide.cc/isotopes/sm-153/), [Strontium-89](https://nuclide.cc/isotopes/sr-89/)
- indications: [Prostate cancer](https://nuclide.cc/indications/prostate/), [Renal cell carcinoma](https://nuclide.cc/indications/rcc/)
- drugs: [Radium-223 dichloride](https://nuclide.cc/drugs/radium-223/), [Strontium-89 chloride](https://nuclide.cc/drugs/sr-89-chloride/)
- fronts: [Bone-targeted radiopharmaceuticals](https://nuclide.cc/fronts/f-bone-targeted/)
- pairings: [Radium-223 with abiraterone: a caution, not a combination](https://nuclide.cc/pairings/radium223-abiraterone-caution/)
- targets: [Bone mineral (hydroxyapatite)](https://nuclide.cc/targets/bone-hydroxyapatite/)
- terms: [Flare phenomenon](https://nuclide.cc/terms/flare-phenomenon/)

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JSON: https://nuclide.cc/api/v1/entities/bone-metastases.json