However, compliance with

this therapy is less than ideal, as most patients discontinue therapy within the first year.21 The Vicious Cycle Hypothesis of Bone Destruction and Metastatic Prostate Cancer Normal bone physiology requires balance between osteoclast-mediated bone resorption and new formation by osteoblasts. An important mediator of osteoclast activation, differentiation, and survival is RANK ligand.22 When prostate cancer metastasizes to bone, it initiates a vicious cycle of accelerated bone destruction.23 Although men with prostate cancer are often found to have predominately osteoblastic lesions, there is significant associated osteolytic activity, Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical as measured by increased serum and urine markers of bone Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical resorption (see below), which is comparable to, and in some cases higher than, that seen among patients with purely osteolytic lesions from breast cancer or multiple myeloma.24 Factors produced by the tumor cells stimulate osteoblasts to express RANK ligand (Figure 2). RANK ligand promotes osteoclastic activity that increases bone Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical resorption, which results in release of local factors from the bone microenvironment that can promote further growth of tumor cells in the bone. The presence of bone metastases irrespective of the simultaneous

use of Small molecule library mouse hormonal therapy predisposes men to more frequent and more severe skeletal-related events, including pathologic fractures, in comparison with men receiving hormonal therapy alone. This Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical occurs because of the substantial loss of bone density due to the osteolysis associated with the metastasis. It has been estimated that about 49% of patients with metastatic prostate cancer

experience a skeletal-related event within 2 years25; the types of skeletal-related events anticipated in the presence of metastatic prostate cancer are shown in Figure 3.26 Figure 2 The Vicious Cycle Hypothesis of bone destruction in metastatic cancer. Adapted with permission from Roodman GD.23 Figure 3 Skeletal morbidity in hormone-refractory metastatic prostate cancer Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical patients encompasses a range of bone complications. Data from Saad F et al.26 Management of bone metastasis to prevent skeletal-related events includes bisphosphonate ADP ribosylation factor therapy and will likely expand in the near future as other treatment modalities are evaluated. An important component of managing men at risk for skeletal-related events is risk stratification. Urinary and serum markers of bone turnover include N-telopeptide (NTx) and bone alkaline phosphatase (BALP). The ratio of NTx to creatinine has been shown to correlate with outcomes in men with prostate cancer.27 The ratio of posttreatment NTx to creatinine and BALP levels are independent predictors of overall skeletalrelated events, time to a skeletal-related event, and mortality in patients with prostate cancer.