title: Future directions for bone metastasis research - highlights from the 2015 bone and the Oncologist new updates conference (BONUS).
abstract: In an era of reduced peer-reviewed grant funding, performing academic bone oncology-related research has become increasingly challenging. Over the last 10 years we have held an annual meeting to bring together clinicians, clinician/scientists and basic biomedical researchers interested in the effects of cancer and its treatment on skeletal tissues. In the past these "Bone and the Oncologist New Updates Conference (BONUS)" meetings have served as critical catalyst for initiating productive research collaborations between attendees. The 2015 BONUS meeting format focused on potential key research themes that could form the basis of a coordinated national research strategy to tackle unmet clinical and research needs related to complications associated with cancer metastasis to bone. The three themes planned for discussion were: Is bone metastases-related pain the main issue facing patients? Are there new therapeutic targets for patients with bone metastases? How do we more firmly link basic science with clinical practice? We present a summary of lectures and commentaries from the attendees to serve as an example that other similarly motivated groups can model and share their experiences. It is our hope that these presentations will result in comments, feedback and suggestions from all those researchers interested in this important area.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Division of Medical Oncology, The Ottawa Hospital and University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada.
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fernandes
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Goodman Cancer Research Centre, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Siegel
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Goodman Cancer Research Centre, McGill University, Montreal, Canada; Faculty of Dentistry, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
authors.forename: Svetlana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Komarova
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Division of Medical Oncology, The Ottawa Hospital and University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada; Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hilton
authors.affiliation: Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Addison
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Division of Medical Oncology, The Ottawa Hospital and University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada.
authors.forename: Mohammed F K
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Ibrahim
authors.affiliation: Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Department of Surgery, Division of Orthopaedic Surgery, The Ottawa Hospital and University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada.
authors.forename: Joel
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Werier
authors.affiliation: Ottawa Hospital Division of Radiation Oncology and University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Kristopher
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dennis
authors.affiliation: McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada.
authors.forename: Gurmit
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.affiliation: Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, University Health Network and Princess Margaret Hospital and University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: Eitan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Amir
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Division of Medical Oncology, The Ottawa Hospital and University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada.
authors.forename: Virginia
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Jarvis
authors.affiliation: Division of Medical Oncology, Odette Cancer Centre, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: Urban
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Emmenegger
authors.affiliation: Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Sasha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mazzarello
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Division of Medical Oncology, The Ottawa Hospital and University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada; Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Clemons
keywords: Animal models; Bone metastases; Cancer; Cancer-induced pain