For those with bone Mets resolved by medication….

[HbbM]

was there damage to the bones after the Mets resolved? Did you need radiation or something else to heal the bone where the Mets wax resolved?

[SeattleMom]

I had extensive bone mets in my spine and iliac when I was first diagnosed with MBC 5 1/2 years ago. I was treated with ten rounds of radiation, followed by hormone therapy and occasional bone strengtheners. Although my bone mets have stabilized, my bones remain relatively fragile; I have a T12 compression and bilateral rib fractures that will occasionally flare with pain. I’m not sure if bones, after metastases, are ever totally “resolved” or back to their original strength.

God bless you!! 🙏🏻🙏🏻💗💗 Linda

[Iwasborntodothis]

I had radiation to my hip which had been completely consumed by cancer. The last hip scan showed great improvement and the pain is quite a bit less. I was afraid of radiation but I am not anymore.

I also take Xgeva shots every month and they seem to be working in concert with whatever med I am taking. Xgeva is a double edged sword so please do your research and read all of the posts here about it.

[Nocillo]

At diagnosis my entire skeleton was covered with bone mets. It has been under control with medication which includes Zometa every 3 months. I’m don’t think the medical community considers bone mets ever resolved. Not that I’ve heard of anyway.

[bikebabe]

I have active micro met disease throughout my spine which gives me pain from time to time. Things flare up thrn are not reported on again. Had a full bone scan 24 March but won’t get results til June as three monthly MRI/Ct scans now delayed. My question is - for those who’ve had radiation, what factors determined at what point was it needed ie was it the size of mets, or that they consistently showed up on 3 mthly scans?

[NPmary in reply to bikebabe]

I had radiation to bones for extreme pain. This did help (2017). Palliation is the reason for radiation to the bones. I have extensive arthritis and bone mets and have pain every day (not excruciating but bad enough to take a vicodan). Besides fractures cancer can eat away at and destroy bone (osteolytic) or add bone (sclerosis) add inflammation, barometer changes - this causes swelling and pain. Cancer can also attack none msrtow and interfere with our making of blood components.Wish l had better answers.

[TammyCross in reply to NPmary]

bone marrow

[NPmary in reply to TammyCross]

You have it in your bone marrow?I'm sorry.

[TammyCross in reply to NPmary]

No, I don't! I was just clarifying that when you wrote "none msrtow," you probably meant "bone marrow."

[NPmary in reply to TammyCross]

Yes, sorry l didnt catch the typos. Thanks.

[wendle3007 in reply to bikebabe]

My largest met is in my T12 vertebrae. After an MRI scan they realised bigger than they thought so had 5 days of RT. I was told it would change the DNA of the tumour which should stop it growing. When I had a repeat MRI done about 7 months after the RT, there was no difference. As I had some back pain they decided to give me one big blast of RT. Pain hasn't gone and they now think not connected with spine. I was told that RT on bones can initially cause more pain due to inflammation but it settles down.

[bikebabe in reply to wendle3007]

Thank you for sharing and im sorry your pain hasnt diminished. Have they offered other solutions? I just wondered what size of tumour is a threshold for radiation or is it totally based on symptoms eg What could/couldnt you do?

[wendle3007 in reply to bikebabe]

The tumour is quite large so they wanted to act quickly. I'm seeing rheumatology about pain in back and also joints (caused by hormone therapy). They think back pain is muscular so seeing physio too

[bikebabe in reply to wendle3007]

oh- well I hope you get some relief - I’m hoping to get steroid injections in my shoulders at some point. One went back after radiotherapy (right twice tumour) and now the leftcside post mastectomy even worse. Like you I do wonder if the Letrozole is making it worse.

[Sharonpat]

I have mets to my sternum my glenoid shoulder joint and my t7 vertebrae I did fracture my shoulder when I was 13 so asked was they sure it wasn’t damaged from that injury they now tell me my bone mets have resolved and are all skelorotic or skelerosed which apparently means healed although they told me don’t get too excited

[love2golfwell]

I had radiation to two small bone mets, one in ischium and one in sacrum. The radiation was targeted and I had 5 treatments for each met. Each treatment was about 15 minutes and did not cause much pain afterwards. Since then scans have been stable so I feel that the issues were resolved.

[PJBinMI]

I had "extensive" bone mets when first diagnosed with breast cancer 19 years ago. Mets in spine, pelvis, shoulder blade and one rib. I've done extremely well with treatment, including bone meds but recently developed osteonecrosis of the jaw so cannot take the bone meds any more. I've not needed rads to any bones and haven't had symptoms from the bone mets. I think we each have our own individual experience with bone mets.

[Maludagui in reply to PJBinMI]

hi 👋 is very happy hear you have 19 years win to Cancer. How many years you take ibrance and Letrozole combo ? And how medicine you take right now ? I hope you have a great day 😃

[JMDavis]

I had bone Mets on my spine, ribs and hips when diagnosed. I underwent radiation on my hip due to the size of the met there (risk of fracture) which helped. Other Mets have shown signs of healing which, for me, means the bones are hardening where their mets were (skelotoric). According to my onc this means they are still (possibly more) fragile. I think the bottom line is that mets compromise bone integrity regardless of their status so best to take care!

[Pinkpanzie]

Not exactly sure what you mean by resolved. My bone mets are sclerotic and stable. They will always show up on scans even though they are sclerotic. I was taking Xgeva but developed ONJ so off of that now.

[TammyCross in reply to Pinkpanzie]

That makes 3 of us so far on this thread - PJB and you and me. I think I am the only one of the three of us who had advanced ONJ and had to have necrotic jaw bone cut out, taking 4 teeth. I finally got a denture -- no implants or anything because there is no jaw bone to attach to. It works but is not comfortable. Has a lot of plastic and some metal wires to attach the fake gum and fake teeth to - they don't want to put any stress on my remaining teeth and jaw bone. Nobody can tell but me. I can smile again.

[mariootsi in reply to TammyCross]

The onj scares me from xgeva

[TammyCross in reply to mariootsi]

Yes, but it cleared up my bone mets miraculously. I just stayed on it for a year after that. Kept telling onc I didn't want it, but she kept pressing. I finally insisted and she said I didn't need it any more so let me stop. Too late. I should have put my foot down much sooner. I was having dental problems. I guess I already had some bone loss. Now I wish I could go back on it because there are signs I am developing bone mets in new spots. I can't take Xgeva or any of the bisphosphonates because of the ONJ, though. Stuck!

[mariootsi in reply to TammyCross]

Omg

[TammyCross]

My bone mets were resolved with medication. Those bones will always show evidence of "healing" in sclerotic lesions. That is, my bones that had cancer are thicker. They usually say that these lesions are not from the cancer, but from the healing. They look the same. They say that bone cancer is never cured. It lives on microscopically. This is very annoying to hear when there is no evidence on scans of any cancer in the bones. They say the meds slow progression.

[Pachira]

After diagnosis of MBC in 2018, I did well on Arimidex and Xgeva for 5 years developed uveitis which they thought was from Xgeva then mild Onj. After stopping Xgeva cancer spread t/out my spine but Uveitis and Onj has resolved. Saw my Onc on Wednesday and the last thing he said to me was “just don’t fall” lol. I’m listed as high risk of fracture. My primary care says my compression fracture is hard to heal because of the fragility of my bones. Chris

[MettavivorDS]

My cancer metastasized to the bone with one small lesion on the top of the femur bone near the left hip. This was 7 years ago. At that time, I was prescribed Lupron and letrozole as hormone therapy. My onc wanted me to take Xgeva as well, but I refused and was determined to strengthen my bones naturally. The bone lesion on the femur healed after one year without any bone strengthener and continues to remain sclerotic (there's a scar on the bone where the met healed). I had no evidence of active disease for 5 years.

The first line treatment worked well until last year when scans in July 2022 and follow up MRI and bone biopsy showed a new metastatic spot on the pelvic bone near the hip on the right side. I'm now on Lupron and fulvestrant as a hormone therapy. I also started taking Zometa as a bone strengthener to both treat both the cancer met as well as osteoporosis caused by the hormone therapy. It was never made clear to me by the oncologists or the endocrinologist that aromatase inhibitor drugs will overpower all efforts to strengthen bones naturally. I believe the new met occurred because the osteoporosis weakened the bone. My scans are this coming week and I'm praying that the second line treatment is working.

To make a long story short, my answer is "yes." I believe bone mets can be "resolved.' By this, I mean healed with no evidence of advanced disease (NEADS). The lesions will appear on the scans, but will show up as cold spots rather than hot spots. Having said all that, even with NEADS status, it's important to continue treatment to prevent the cancer from growing again.

[HbbM in reply to MettavivorDS]

thank you so much for this detailed response.

[kellylinkane]

@yes, Mind Resloved and not seen anymore on PET .