This is an automatically translated article.
Cancer metastasis to the bone can appear very early without any clinical signs, the disease is only detected when the complications of the disease manifest outwardly or are detected during a medical examination. Cancer that has metastasized to the bone is often painful and the treatment of cancer pain is put first in the treatment of this disease.
1. What you need to know about bone metastases
Depending on the type of primary cancer as well as the stage of the disease, the rate of cancer metastasized to the bone accounts for 30-85%, seriously affecting the patient's quality of life. Cancer metastases to bones in Vietnam account for a higher rate than in foreign countries because most cancers are detected quite late, which affects the patient's survival time as well as complications. accompanied by pathological fractures or spinal cord compression...
Not all cancers can metastasize to bones, however, lung cancer and thyroid cancer have a metastatic rate of 30-40% number of cases while breast cancer and prostate cancer have a relatively high metastasis rate of 60-70%. Cancer metastases to bones often concentrate in bones with a lot of marrow such as the spine, pelvis, ribs, skull with the rate up to 70%.
Typical manifestations of cancer metastases to bones are pain due to pinched nerves, some systemic symptoms such as fatigue, loss of appetite, weight loss, anemia... However, when the patient develops Most of the diseases have reached a late stage and the treatment is no longer specific.
Đa phần bệnh đã tiến triển đến giai đoạn muộn thì mới được phát hiện
The effective methods of diagnosing cancer with metastatic bone to bone are now often prescribed by doctors including bone x-rays, bone scans, CT scans, magnetic resonance imaging, bone biopsies... In addition, the doctor will perform a number of investigations such as measuring bone density to help detect osteoporosis early, detecting an imbalance between osteoblasts and osteoclasts, probing to detect primary cancer...
2. Does bone cancer metastasize to the bone cause pain?
The first effect of metastatic cancer to the bone is to cause severe pain to the patient, especially at night. They suffer from prolonged pain and this cancer pain will increase if not treated to relieve pain.
This pain mechanism can come from the following reasons:
Cancerous tumor stretches the bone plaque in place Tumor compresses leading to increased pressure in the intracranial or spinal cord Compression, invasion or The spread of the tumor to the surrounding tissues The bone is destroyed, leading to a pathological fracture that causes pain to the patient.
Ung thư di căn đến xương khiến người bệnh đau đớn dữ dội, đặc biệt vào ban đêm
3. Effective treatment for pain relief from metastatic cancer
Currently, the treatment of pain caused by cancer metastases to the bone with the aim of reducing the size or volume of the tumor, minimizing the total damage caused by the tumor, and reducing cancer pain and enhancing quality of life for patients.Treatments for pain caused by cancer that have spread to the bone include surgery, chemotherapy, pain medication, and radiation therapy.
3.1 Treatment for pain relief from metastatic bone cancer according to the WHO analgesic ladder This is a method of using analgesics depending on the patient's pain condition recommended by WHO, including three levels of pain relief as follows:
Step 1: Use Paracetamol as prescribed by a doctor
Step 2: Use Paracetamol with codeine or tramadol as prescribed by a doctor, use a lower dose for patients with liver failure, kidney failure or older adults
Tier 3: Use of morphine or its derivatives as prescribed by a physician for patients with severe pain.
3.2 Treatment of pain caused by metastatic bone cancer with radiation therapy This is a method of cancer pain treatment that has many advantages recommended by doctors:
Pain relief time is longer than other methods Other methods Fewer harmful side effects for patients Lower cost of implementation
Xạ trị là phương pháp trị đau do ung thư có nhiều ưu điểm
3.3 Surgical treatment Cancer analgesia includes radical surgery for pathological fractures and prophylactic surgery for high fracture risk cases such as long lesions on 2.5cm, lesion diameter over 50%, prevention of spinal cord compression.
Vinmec International General Hospital is equipped with the world's leading medical equipment system, for high image quality, helping to diagnose diseases early. Professional team of doctors with experience, in-depth and methodical training at home and abroad, many doctors with long years of experience in nuclear medicine.
In addition to recognizing symptoms of bone metastases, laboratory tests are very important in early detection of bone metastases. Bone scintigraphy allows early diagnosis of bone metastases even when the patient has no symptoms and earlier than other diagnostic methods.
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