How long can you live with cancer “bone metastasis”?

Cancer has become a major disease that we must face. As people’s quality of life continues to improve, the number of cancer (bone metastasis) cases is increasing every year.

In 2020, the number of new cancer patients worldwide has reached 19.29 million.

When we talk about cancer, the first thing that comes to our mind is pain and death.

In fact, it is no wonder that many cancer patients experience various pain symptoms, among which bone pain is a very common problem.

People who are familiar with this knowledge understand that if a cancer patient experiences bone pain, it is very likely that bone metastasis has occurred.

This indicates a poor prognosis.

However, after bone metastasis occurs, how long can a patient survive? Why are bones prone to problems?

1. How long can you live after bone metastasis?

Many documents have mentioned that tumor recurrence and metastasis often indicate a poor prognosis for tumor patients.

First, let’s take a look at which organs can tumor metastasis occur?

In fact, there are many organs and tissues that are prone to metastasis, including the stomach, liver, bones, and brain.

Bone metastasis is a common problem in advanced tumors and is found in many patients .

Once it occurs, the patient’s prognosis is often not good and the quality of life will be greatly reduced.

But how long can you live?

Many scholars are also very curious about this question, and many studies are exploring related issues.

Taking breast cancer as an example, studies have shown that after breast cancer bone metastasis occurs , the survival rate after 5 years is only 20%.

In addition, a study showed that for patients with bone metastasis of lung cancer, if complete surgical resection can be performed early, the survival rate after 5 years can reach 60.5%.

However, some scholars believe that regardless of the type of cancer, the degree of pain and survival are highly correlated. For example, the median survival of patients with moderate pain will reach 13.3 months, while for patients with relatively severe pain, the survival period is only 10.3 months.

If you think the above data is not too optimistic, some studies are even more pessimistic.

A research report pointed out that the probability of bone metastasis in lung cancer is 30% to 40%, while the median survival time of patients is only 7 months.

Of course, the above data comes from many aspects, and the nature of cancer is not fixed and unified, so it cannot be fully summarized.

However, there is no doubt that the survival rate of cancer patients after metastasis is not very satisfactory.

But why are bones so prone to metastasis?

2. Bones are richly supplied with blood, which causes trouble.

Obviously, bone metastasis of tumor is a very complicated process.

Initially, tumor metastasis may follow the same pathway as hematogenous metastasis and lymphatic metastasis: the tumor at the primary site breaks through the basement membrane and invades the surrounding area.

After that, the tumor cells flow into the arterial system, travel along the blood, and finally reach the bone marrow, where they take up residence in the bone tissue.

Then, tumor cells can release many growth regulatory or activating factors, which participate in the formation and destruction of bones and continuously cause bone tissue remodeling.

Some researchers have proposed the “seed and soil” theory, comparing tumor cells to seeds.

The “seed” is looking for an environment suitable for its survival inside the body, that is, suitable “soil”.

The blood supply of bone tissue is very rich, and it can be said to be one of the organs in the body most prone to tumor blood metastasis.

I would like to add that, apart from bones, two other organs with “rich blood supply” are the lungs and liver.

Moreover, among all bones, the spine and pelvis in the axial skeleton and the proximal ends of long bones are the most prone to metastasis.

3. What should I do if there is bone metastasis?

Having said so much, what many people know is not how the transfer occurs, but what to do about the transfer?

In fact, the occurrence of bone metastasis often indicates a poor prognosis, but one must also have a positive attitude.

Bone metastasis can cause a series of clinical symptoms, such as bone pain, pathological fractures, spinal cord compression and hypercalcemia .

These problems are all very difficult to solve, but they are not completely impossible to solve.

It is very necessary to adopt a correct comprehensive treatment plan of surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy .

In addition, studies have shown that after the application of appropriate analgesic treatment, the pain caus by bone metastasis can be relieve in more than 85% of patients, and the possibility of complete relief can even reach 45.5%.

In addition, anti-osteoporosis drugs: bisphosphonates, this drug is the most commonly use drug for the treatment of bone metastases.

Its function is very obvious, that is, it is a highly effective bone resorption inhibitor that mainly acts on osteoclasts, inhibiting the differentiation and maturation of osteoclasts.

Is it really terrible after bone metastasis occurs?

In fact, many metastases indicate a poor prognosis and the patient’s life safety is greatly threaten.

However, don’t give up hope. Even if bone metastasis occurs, there are still some treatments and measures.

Many patients will feel pain relief by using appropriate analgesics, and the effect of drugs is very worthy of attention.

At the same time, we also hope that modern medicine can continue to progress and conquer the difficult problem of cancer as soon as possible so that patients will no longer have to suffer so much headache.