[Medical Q&A] What should cancer patients do after bone metastasis?

Planner: Chinese Medical Association

Reviewer: Kong Xiangyi, deputy chief physician, Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences

When cancer metastasizes to the bone, the treatment strategy needs to take into account a variety of factors, such as symptoms, distance of metastasis, extent of metastasis, location of metastasis, overall health status of the patient, and expected survival time. Bone metastasis is usually not completely curable and it indicates that the cancer has entered an advanced stage. The main treatment is palliative treatment, which aims to relieve pain, reduce nerve compression, improve motor function, inhibit tumor progression, and prolong survival. The specific methods are as follows.

1. Drug therapy: For primary tumors, such as breast cancer bone metastasis, corresponding targeted therapy, immunotherapy, chemotherapy or endocrine therapy may be required.

2. Surgical treatment: If the tumor compresses the nerve roots and affects motor function, spinal surgery may be required.

3. Radiation therapy: Treating bone metastases with radiation can relieve symptoms and sometimes even eliminate the metastases.

4. Analgesic treatment: Analgesics can be used to treat pain caused by bone metastasis. Mild pain can be treated with antipyretic, analgesic and anti-inflammatory drugs, while severe pain may require the use of morphine-like drugs.

Although bone metastasis cannot be cured, the above treatment options can effectively relieve symptoms, improve quality of life, and prolong survival. Patients should communicate closely with their doctors to choose the treatment that best suits them.