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Bone Metastases; Basic Aspects
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Edité par CCSD ; Oxford: Academic Press. -
International audience. Bone metastases, the spread of cancer to the bones, occur frequently in patients with advanced disease and contribute substantially to morbidity and mortality in cancer patients. Bone metastasis formation is a stepwise sequence of events that include bone colonization by tumor cells, construction of a cancer niche in the bone marrow, tumor dormancy and, following dormant cell reactivation, tumor cell interactions with bone-resorbing (osteoclasts) and bone-forming (osteoblasts) cells. By disrupting the physiological balance between bone resorption and bone formation, tumor cells promote bone destruction and, in turn, growth factors and calcium released from the resorbed bone matrix promote skeletal tumor growth. Thus, there is a vicious cycle whereby tumor cells disrupt bone homeostasis and resorbed bone promotes tumor growth.