TEST YOUR BONE METASTASES KNOWLEDGE

Bone mets are especially common in breast, prostate, lung, thyroid, and kidney cancers.¹

When cancer spreads from the original solid tumor to the bone, those tumors are called bone metastases, or "bone mets." Bone cancers start in the bone, just like breast cancer starts in the breast and prostate cancer starts in the prostate. In fact, bone cancers are very different from bone mets and are much less common than bone mets.¹

Patients with bone metastases from solid tumors are at risk for serious bone problems. Serious bone problems are defined as broken bones (fractures), a need for surgery to prevent or repair broken bones, a need for radiation treatments to the bone, or pressure on the spinal cord (spinal cord compression).¹ If you or a loved one develops bone mets, it's important to talk to the doctor about a plan to prevent serious bone problems.

If you have bone mets, don't wait for bone pain before asking your doctor about steps for preventing serious bone problems. In some cases, a broken bone is the first sign of bone mets.¹ So remember, bone pain is not always a reliable predictor of the risk for serious bone problems.²

Serious bone problems are defined as broken bones (fractures), a need for surgery to prevent or repair broken bones, a need for radiation treatments to the bone, or pressure on the spinal cord (spinal cord compression).¹ If you or a loved one develops bone mets, it's important to talk to the doctor about a plan to prevent serious bone problems.

There are medicine options available to help prevent the serious bone problems caused by bone mets from solid tumor cancers. These medicines work to slow down the bone damage caused by cancer and lower the risk of serious bone problems.¹ Serious bone problems are defined as broken bones (fractures), a need for surgery to prevent or repair broken bones, a need for radiation treatments to the bone, or pressure on the spinal cord (spinal cord compression).¹

Ask your doctor about your treatment options and about the risks and benefits of treatment. Risks of treatment may include low calcium levels in your blood (hypocalcemia) that could be life-threatening, severe jaw bone problems (osteonecrosis), unusual thigh bone fractures (atypical femoral fractures), and possible harm to your unborn baby.¹