Breast cancer-related bone diseases include two primary conditions:
• cancer treatment-induced bone loss (CTIBL): Bone loss due to certain breast cancer treatments, such as aromatase inhibitors (AIs).
• bone metastases: Cancer cells can separate from primary tumors and migrate to bone tissue where they settle and grow. These growing cancer cells then weaken and destroy the bone. The damage the tumor causes to the bone can result in a number of serious complications, collectively called skeletal-related events (SREs).
Skeletal-related events (SREs) can occur when cancer has spread to the bone (metastasized) and weakened it. SREs include:
• pathological fracture
• spinal cord compression
• need for surgery to bone
• radiation to the bone
