New Insights Into How Bone Metastases Occur
Bones are constantly in a changing state of equilibrium. How much you have in any one place is a balance between bone formation (by cells called osteoblasts) and bone dissolving (by cells called osteoclasts) The net result effect on bone affected by breast cancer cell metastasis is osteoclasts outnumber osteoblasts and bones appear "holey" on xrays as there is more dissolving than new bone formation going on. Zometa works on the osteoclasts so they are less active dissolving the bone away. But it doesn't necessarily make weak bones HEAL (just dissolve less), as it doesn't also act on osteoblasts. Now they have found that something about the breast cancer cells affects BOTH osteoclasts AND osteoblasts.
Next step if finding out what that something is and developing a treatment for it. NO...it doesn't tell you what to go out and take and HOW MUCH right away...but if you don't know what the problem is, you don't know what to go and and look for to solve it.
As usual scientific discoveries happen by little steps, but when we are lucky we find there is something we already have (FDA APPROVED or in food) that already does these things.
Penicillin was discovered when they found bacteria wouldn't grown near some mold left to grow in an area by "neglectful housekeeping" I have
been to the hospital where it was discovered and, at the time, in 1979, it smelled like they could be discovering some more virtues of microorgansims/mold! So sometimes big leaps do suddenly occur...reason to keep up hope!
I will not probably wax on like this ever again...I am waiting while they implant a pacemaker in my mother and have a bit of time on my hands
We all have other demands on our time and mental efforts, whether it be work, family, or paralyzing worry...or just not feeling well.
I suggest we keep that in mind when we reply to posts--and, indeed, when we decide what to post.
Perhaps the yield sign with the exclamation point should be used as "merge with caution" if you have something to post that might worry someone. I am new to this and don't know the difference between blue and red angry face sign. Perhaps red is angry and blue is sad---perhaps we need a new sign for "venting--allow sufficient airspac/flow in all directions around"
Well, here it is:
9 March 2006
Breast cancer spread knocks out bone cells
US investigators have studied the kinetics of breast cancer movement to the bones in mice, demonstrating the tumor's adverse effects on the different bone cells.
"In vivo studies have focused on the latter stages of the bone metastatic process (osteolysis), whereas little is known about earlier events, eg, arrival, localization, and initial colonization," Danny Welch (University of Alabama at Birmingham) and team note.
Hypothesizing that defining these processes could lead to novel treatment modalities, the researchers injected human breast cancer cells, tagged with a green fluorescent protein, into the hearts of athymic mice.
The scientists then monitored the animals' femurs using fluorescence microscopy, immunohistochemistry, and other techniques between 1 hour and 6 weeks after injection.
Writing in the journal Clinical Cancer Research, Welch et al report that single cancer cells were detected 1 hour after administration in the distal metaphyses of the femur, and remained as single cells for up to 72 hours.
Within a week, numerous foci, of between two and 10 cells, were detected in the femurs close to osteoblast-like cells. At 2 weeks, there were fewer foci but they hadbecome larger, with over 50 cells each.
Moreover, at the 4-week check-point, most of the femurs had a single large mass, which originated from a colony of merging foci, and these had extended into the diaphysis by 6 weeks.
Interestingly, the researchers detected less than a 20% change in the numbers of osteoblasts or osteoclasts 2 weeks after injection, but by 4–6 weeks, osteoblasts had dramatically reduced in number to just 8% of control levels. Osteoclasts showed a more modest reduction, to around 60% of control values.
"Early arrest in metaphysis and minimal retention in diaphysis highlight the importance of the local milieu in determining metastatic potential," the team observes.
They conclude: "Ours is the first in vivo evidence that tumor cells influence not only osteoclasts, as widely believed, but also eliminate functional osteoblasts, thereby restructuring the bone microenvironment to favor osteolysis.
"The data may also explain why patients receiving bisphosphonates fail to heal bone despite inhibiting resorption, implying that concurrent strategies that restore osteoblast function are needed to effectively treat osteolytic bone metastases."
Clin Cancer Res 2006; 12: 1431–1440
http://clincancerres.aacrjournals.org/cgi/con
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