Cancer, or, in other words, carcinoma, is one of the most dangerous oncological diseases of our time, threatening a person with severe organ damage, up to the penetration of metastases into the bone. Currently, in developed countries, about 20% of all deaths are associated with cancer. In developing countries, this figure is even higher. And although oncology is currently one of the most dynamic branches of medicine, the number of sick and dead is kept at the same level.
Cancer Factors
The causes of malignant tumors in the scientific community are still debated. Among the most significant external factors are called:
- physical, that is, exposure to radiation and ultraviolet rays, which is increasing due to the appearance of ozone holes;
- chemical, primarily associated with the use of carcinogens;
- biological, suggesting the impact on the body of certain pathogens.
In addition to external factors, a significant role is played by internal ones. Researchers note that in some cases, DNA does not have sufficient ability to repair, or the immunity weakly resists the spread of malignancy. This allows us to talk about the hereditary predisposition of a person to cancer.
Summarizing all the studies, scientists have developed a mutational theory of cancer. From this point of view, a cancer cell is formed as a result of genetic failures in an incompletely formed healthy cell under the influence of both external and internal factors. It is not yet possible to determine which of them are primary.
The development of cancer
In the process of developing a malignant tumor, several stages are distinguished. In the early years, a person can receive treatment sufficient to overcome the disease. In the final, fourth stage, cancer is a significant danger. The risk of death is so high that this stage is called terminal.
It is especially difficult to fight the disease when the tissue covers a secondary lesion, that is, metastasis. According to studies, bone tissue is the most susceptible to cancer, and lesions most often cover the largest bones of the body, since they receive the largest amount of nutrients. In men, a secondary lesion occurs, for example, in the fourth stage of prostate cancer. Bone metastases in women are found in breast cancer.
Signs of the formation of metastases
By the time of metastasis, the patient’s body is so exhausted that it is not able to deal with the spread of malignant tumors. Secondary damage is accompanied by severe pain, limitation of mobility. The formation of bone metastases in cancer of the lungs, prostate, thyroid gland or kidneys is accompanied by other symptoms:
- fractures - bones become so fragile that even a slight load is enough to seriously injure the tissue;
- intoxication, expressed in weakness, lack of appetite, nausea and depression;
- compression of the cardiovascular and nervous systems, due to the fact that secondary-structured malignant structures that are densely structured exert strong pressure on body parts close to them;
- hypercalcemia is a sharp increase in the calcium content in the body, expressed in dryness, excessive urination, that is, dehydration of the body. It is the most serious among all the complications that arise, since in a very short time it can disable all vital organs.
The formation of bone metastases at the terminal stage can be accompanied by other manifestations, such as changes in the appearance and structure of the skin, up to the formation of ulcers, the appearance of previously undiagnosed diseases like arthritis, osteochondrosis, and rheumatism. For any alarm, you should immediately consult a doctor, since only with a detailed examination can you find out how far the disease has gone.
Life expectancy with secondary damage
With symptoms of bone metastases, many people first of all think about how much they have left. And although such a diagnosis does not necessarily entail a fatal outcome, patients prefer to know the preliminary prognosis. Bone metastases resulting from cancer of the kidneys completely destroy the body within a year. If a patient is diagnosed with thyroid cancer, then he has more time: from three to four years. But if a person is sick with melanoma, then you need to take up treatment as soon as possible, since death can occur in the next three to four months.
It should be borne in mind that life expectancy in bone metastases is determined not only by the nature of the disease that caused them, but also by the type of metastatic formation.
Diagnostics
The formation of bone metastases in the 4th degree of development of cancer is not always inevitable. But when alarming symptoms appear, a thorough medical examination is necessary. The most successful procedure is scintigraphy - skeleton diagnostics using the radionuclide method. Its accuracy is so great that it reveals the first signs of the formation of metastases in the bones and ribs in the early stages. This method does not cause discomfort and pain to the patient and does not harm health. The only possible case of contraindications to the use of the radionuclide method is pregnancy.
The scintigraphy procedure, which allows us to draw conclusions about the appearance of metastases in the bones, lasts only about an hour, despite its effectiveness, it acts in combination with other diagnostic methods. One of them is the well-known x-ray. However, this direction is rarely given to the patient, since the procedure is accompanied by irradiation of the body, and as a result, only mature neoplasms can be detected.
To detect osteological lesions, computed and magnetic resonance imaging are used. Unlike radiography, these methods do not affect the health of the patient, do not expose him to additional risk. After passing through these procedures, laboratory tests are taken, in particular a blood test. They allow you to identify signs of possible hypercalcemia, to determine the level of alkaline phosphatose.
Metastatic development
The main problem in the prevention of metastasis is the fact that a secondary lesion can occur several years after the primary. The patient may be confident that the disease has receded, but the confidence may be false: there are dormant metastases.
The reasons for the return of the disease in a more aggressive form include factors such as:
- malignant tumor structure;
- form of tumor development and growth;
- patient age (in younger people, the rate of formation and spread of metastases is higher than in older people).
Metastasis of the body occurs in three stages. At the first, the affected cell moves from the initial spread of the tumor to the lumen in the blood vessel and thus enters the blood or other body fluid. The second stage involves circulation through the body until it joins another organ. In the third stage, the cancer cell infects healthy cells, resulting in the formation of a metastatic node.
Ways of the spread of metastases
Internal organs are washed by various fluids, which can become by moving cancer cells. The main methods of spreading metastases in the body include:
- hematogenous pathway - malignant lesions move through the blood vessels;
- lymphogenous path - cells separated from the focus of the primary spread of the tumor enter the lymph node;
- the implantation pathway is characteristic of cancer of the organs of the gastrointestinal apparatus - malignant tumors grow through the serous membrane, which is lined from the inside of the abdominal and thoracic cavities.
Metastasis treatment
If medical diagnosis has revealed the presence of bone metastases, treatment should be the patient's main concern. Folk remedies, prayers from holy sources and the like methods will not help. The real benefit to the patient can bring only high-quality therapy. In its implementation, the doctor pursues several equally important goals at once:
- decrease in pain;
- destruction of metastatic formations and prevention of their further spread;
- the withdrawal of toxins formed during metastasis from the body;
- elimination of symptoms and associated diseases.
The development of oncological medicine allows us to offer the patient a comprehensive treatment. It is based on the use of drugs of the bisphosphonate class, which prevent bone loss and are administered intravenously. Their other properties include the prevention of further spread of the focus of secondary damage and bone decay. Bisphosphonates reduce the risk of fractures, relieve pain and regulate calcium levels, which is especially important with progressive hypercalcemia. Typically, these drugs are used for multiple myeloma, breast cancer and prostate cancer: these diseases are most often associated with bone metastases.
Nonpharmacological treatments
Taking appropriate drugs alone can guarantee only temporary improvement. With such a dangerous disease as a secondary lesion, a number of additional procedures are used for successful treatment, which include:
- radiation therapy that prevents the destruction of bone tissue and compression of the cerebrospinal fluid due to the destruction of metastatic cells. The minimum required number of such procedures is ten;
- radiopharmaceutical therapy involving intravenous injection of samarium-153 or strontium-89, killing a significant number of malignant cells;
- chemotherapy in combination with hormone therapy does not allow cancer cells to spread throughout the body;
- immunotherapy is especially necessary in the terminal stage, when the body is no longer able to restrain a progressive disease on its own. In this case, the introduction of artificial proteins and vitamins is practiced;
- Surgical intervention is a controversial method, but it is often used in practice. Its essence is the removal of malignant neoplasms.
The treatment of bone metastases is a long and unpleasant process. In addition to performing the above procedures and taking medications, the patient must follow the diet prescribed by the attending physician and perform only permissible physical activity. Unfortunately, even with modern techniques and the latest equipment, it is impossible to fully guarantee the patient a successful outcome of treatment. Very often unforeseen circumstances arise in which it is impossible to use certain medical procedures or take the necessary drugs. The presence or absence of new complications determines the duration and success of treatment.
Rehabilitation after treatment
Methods of treatment, despite their necessity and effectiveness, inhibit the organism already weakened by the disease. Restoring the patient’s psychological state plays an important role: for a long time he had to wage a difficult fight against a dangerous disease. Post-oncological rehabilitation is all the more important after a secondary tissue lesion, which is precisely the metastases in the bones.
The course of restorative medicine is not just to bring the body state back to normal. It is an integral part of the prevention of a possible relapse: as already noted, dormant bone metastases in cancer are quite real.
In modern society, there are persistent negative stereotypes about some rehabilitation procedures after cancer - such as mud therapy, acupuncture, physiotherapy. But it should be borne in mind that these methods are really undesirable and even harmful in the process of treatment, while at the recovery stage they are quite effective. In any case, when drawing up a rehabilitation course, the attending physician takes into account all the individual characteristics of the patient.
Significant influence is given to the psychological state. As soon as they learn about the presence of metastases in their bones, many people write their own death sentences. In such cases, specialist assistance is needed. One should not hope that a person will return to normal through communication with relatives or friends: they are often not capable of constructive dialogue and make every effort to regret and sympathize, rather than talk about problems.
A significant part of the rehabilitation program should be ergotherapy. For a long time spent in a hospital, a person loses social adaptation skills. It is the return to normal life that is the goal of post-cancer treatment. It is crucial that the patient once again learns to live independently, and not in a hospital bed, and is able to return to work and social activity. In the end, it was for this that he withstood the fight against cancer.