After radical treatment, kidney cancer patients are not all right, they need to have regular review. If elevated alkaline phosphatase (ALP or AKP) or bone pain is found, further bone scan and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the corresponding suspicious area are needed to detect kidney cancer bone metastases more quickly and accurately.
These are the most common tests that are used to detect bone metastases from kidney cancer.
Bone metastasis is a common site of metastasis in patients with advanced kidney cancer, with an incidence of about 30%. Bone metastases from kidney cancer are not only a sign of poor prognosis, but also seriously affect the quality of life of patients. According to statistics, approximately 85% of patients with bone metastases from kidney cancer will experience bone-related events such as fractures and spinal cord compression.
Symptom presentation
The spine, limb bones, ribs, and pelvis are common sites of bone metastases, and the first symptom most patients with bone metastases show is bone pain, which will become more and more severe, especially at night. The most important thing is to pay attention to the pain in these areas and to seek timely medical attention.
Treatment principles
Bone metastases from kidney cancer should be treated with comprehensive therapy, including surgery, radiotherapy, bisphosphonates, systemic therapy for kidney cancer (molecular targeted therapy and novel immunotherapy), pain management, and nutritional support therapy.
Surgical treatment
Surgical treatment of bone metastases is aimed at prolonging life, relieving symptoms, improving quality of life, preventing or managing pathological fractures, and relieving nerve compression, including minimally invasive and vertebroplasty treatments.
Extracorporeal radiotherapy
It is a more traditional treatment with better pain relief and can be effective in preventing paraplegia in patients with more severe vertebral bone metastases, but it has no restorative effect on broken bone.
Biphosphonates
Biphosphonates have become an important supportive therapy by delaying bone destruction, reducing or delaying bone-related events, and improving patients’ quality of life.
Cancer pain treatment
Bone metastases are advanced cancers, and pain occurs in 50% to 90% of patients, of which 50% are severe and 30% are intractable. Pain management for patients with metastases includes radiation therapy, chemotherapy, palliative surgery, and pain medications following the three-step therapy principle.