LEE ROSEN, MD: Most of the time patients will come in with symptoms of bone pain or joint aches or something not going right, but routinely we have a way of monitoring for these side effects. We can check people's blood counts. We can use different radiographic examinations like bone scans or CAT scans and make the diagnosis that way.
ANNOUNCER: Breast cancer cells reach the bone through the blood stream. Once there, these cancerous cells can make the disease even more difficult for the patient.
GABRIEL HORTOBAGYI, MD: They can produce a number of complications that include first of all, pain. Second, fractures in areas that are weakened by the destruction of normal bone components. Third, they can release massive amounts of calcium, which complicate our ability to maintain a balance within our blood stream, and can cause in its most extreme form, death. And they can produce other complications that are less common such as compression of the spinal cord.
LEE ROSEN, MD: The bone complications can severely affect people's quality of life. Obviously if someone is in severe pain, or they've had a fracture and they're not able to move in the same way, their lives can be severely affected.
ANNOUNCER: But there are effective treatments available for breast cancer patients with bone complications. Pain medications, radiation therapy and even surgery have proven successful. As have a class of drugs called bisphosphonates.
