Healthy bones provide the framework for your body, help to protect your organs, produce blood cells, and store minerals like calcium.

Bone Metastasis Affects Bone Health
In healthy bone, a balance is normally maintained between the breaking down and building up of bone. Bone metastases disrupt this balance and can damage and weaken healthy bone in two ways:

1. Bone metastases eat away at bone at a faster rate than your body can rebuild it. This leaves holes in the bone called osteolytic (os-tea-oh-LIT-ick) lesions
   

2. Bone metastases cause lower-quality bone to replace healthy bone. This buildup of weak bone is called an osteoblastic (os-tea-oh-BLAST-ick) lesion
   

Bone Metastasis Can Cause Bone Complications
Bone metastases damage and weaken your bones, and can disrupt their normal function. They can lead to serious problems called bone complications, also referred to as skeletal-related events (SREs) by many doctors. Bone complications can be painful and disabling. They include:

• Bone fractures—Fractures and broken bones from metastases take longer to heal than normal fractures
• Spinal cord damage—Bone metastases can damage the vertebrae (the bones of the spinal column) and put pressure on the spinal cord. This pressure can cause pain, numbness, or paralysis

Another problem caused by bone metastases is the release of too much calcium from your bones into your blood. This is called hypercalcemia of malignancy (high-per-CAL-see-me-uh). Without treatment, hypercalcemia can become serious, even resulting in coma.

How Bone Metastases Are Diagnosed
Bone metastases can be detected in a number of ways:

• Bone scan (whole-body bone scan)
• X-ray
• Computed tomography (CT) scan
• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan
• Positron emission tomography (PET) scan
• Blood tests for certain substances, such as calcium and an enzyme called alkaline phosphatase

Read more about support and additional resources for bone metastasis.

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