title: A short account of metastatic bone disease.
abstract: In adults, bone is the preferential target site for metastases from primary cancers of prostate, breast, lungs and thyroid. The tendency of these cancers to metastasize to bone is determined by the anatomical distribution of the blood vessels, by the genetic profile of the cancer cells and by the biological characteristics of the bone microenvironment that favour the growth of metastatic cells of certain cancers.Metastases to bone may have either an osteolytic or an ostoblastic phenotype. The interaction in the bone microenvironment between biological factors secreted by metastatic cells, and by osteoblasts and osteoclasts, and the osteolytic and osteoblastic factors released from the organic matrix mediate a vicious cycle characterized by metastatic growth and by ongoing progressive bone destruction. This interaction determines the phenotype of the metastatic bone disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Periodontology and Oral Medicine, School of Oral Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Limpopo, Medunsa Campus, South Africa. lfeller@ul.ac.za.
authors.forename: Liviu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Feller
authors.forename: Beverley
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kramer
authors.forename: Johan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lemmer