Revilla M, Arribas I, Sanchez-Chapado M, Villa L F, Bethencourt F, Rico H
Department of Medicine, Alcalá de Henares University, Madrid, Spain.
Prostate. 1998 Jun 1;35(4):243-7. doi: 10.1002/(sici)1097-0045(19980601)35:4<243::aid-pros2>3.0.co;2-h.
The osteolytic activity of metastases of prostate cancer was evaluated in relation to total body bone mineral content (TBBMC) and regional bone mineral content (RBMC).
Bone mass was determined by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) was measured as a biochemical marker of bone resorption.
In 32 patients (mean age 72+/-4 years) compared with 32 controls (mean age 73+/-5 years), there were significant differences in TRAP (P < 0.0001), TBBMC (P < 0.0001), and RBMC in the pelvis (P < 0.0001), legs (P=0.0001), and trunk (P<0.05), but not in the arms and head (P=ns). In the overall group of subjects, the correlation between TBBMC and TRAP was r=-0.68, P < 0.0001. The correlations remained significant in the patient and control groups separately.
The loss of bone mass observed in patients with metastatic prostate cancer was caused mainly by the predominance of bone resorption in the osteoblastic metastases.