BREAST
CANCER
PROSTATE
CANCER
Prostate Cancer and Bone Pain
About 232,000 men in the United States will learn they have prostate cancer this year. Early detection and improved treatment have led to longer lives after diagnosis. About 99 percent of patients with localized disease live at least five years.1
Doctors
can diagnose prostate cancer early before it has spread
beyond the prostate gland or nearby tissue. When prostate cancer spreads,
or metastasizes, it often goes to the bone causing pain. This occurs in
more than 80 percent of patients with metastatic prostate cancer. The
bone, with its rich blood supply, creates an environment for cancer cells
to establish themselves.2
Bones normally regenerate, constantly breaking down and rebuilding. Cancer interferes with this process and may cause bone to wear away or grow too fast. Prostate cancer usually causes excess bone growth.
Bone pain typically begins as a dull, continuous ache, which increases over time. It may seem more intense at night or with activity. Muscle spasms may occur as well.
Prostate cancer may spread to the hips, spinal vertebrae, ribs or other bones. Cancer in the spine may put pressure on nerve roots. This can result in numbness and tingling in the arms or legs, weakness, paralysis or difficulty with urination or bowel movements. Always tell your doctor about new symptoms, even if they seem unrelated to your cancer. If you are experiencing bone pain, the doctor will likely look for spots where the cancer may have taken hold.
Tests the doctor may order include X-rays, computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging, and a bone scan. A bone scan involves an injection of a radioactive agent specifically targeting bone. A scan showing "hot spots," areas of greater concentration, will require further investigation since arthritis and other conditions can cause similar images.
Treatment goals for bone pain due to cancer include killing the cancer cells, improving survival and controlling the pain, which can help improve quality of life. The physician may order external beam radiation to affected bone, chemotherapy or hormonal therapy. Procedures may be recommended to prevent or repair fractures and drugs may be prescribed to slow bone destruction. Pain medications are usually ordered and a special type of pain relieving radiopharmaceutical therapy may be employed. This therapy is a radioactive agent that travels to the bone and provides a high local dose of radiation. This treatment is especially helpful if the cancer has spread to many sites.
Accurately reporting symptoms and how they affect your daily activities will aid your health care team in caring for you and enhancing your quality of life.
- American Cancer Society. Available at: http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/content/CRI_2_4_1X_What_are_
the_key_statistics_for_prostate_c ancer_36.asp?rnav=cri.
Last accessed April 12, 2005. - American Cancer Society. Available at: http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/content/CRI_2_2_2X_What_are_
the_risk_factors_for_bone_meta stasis_66.asp?rnav=cri.
Last accessed April 12, 2005.
