title: Cancer and bone: a complex complex.
abstract: Primary and secondary bone cancers are rare events. However, once settled, a complex process is started involving an extensive amount of factors and interactions. The bone micro-environment is a preferential site for (metastatic) tumor cells to enter, stay, colonize and expand. The fact that the tumor cells affect the complete bone environment involving many cell types and regulatory pathways to stimulate their own growth and escape from therapy is devastating for the patient. Many efforts have been made to get more insight into the mechanisms underlying the communication between bone cells and cancer cells and progress is made in therapeutic interventions. This review will discuss the biological mechanisms of primary bone malignancies (osteosarcoma, Ewing's sarcoma, chondrosarcoma, multiple myeloma) and secondary bone malignancies (bone metastases) and therapeutic interventions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Erasmus MC Rotterdam, Room Ee585c, Wytemaweg 80, 3015 CN Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Electronic address: m.vandriel@erasmusmc.nl.
authors.forename: Marjolein
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: van Driel
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Erasmus MC Rotterdam, Room Ee585c, Wytemaweg 80, 3015 CN Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Johannes P T M
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: van Leeuwen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001859:Bone Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D059016:Tumor Microenvironment / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D009363:Neoplasm Proteins
keywords: Bone; Cancer; Metastases; Microenvironment; Therapy