Hijacking the bone niche: mechanistic insights into bone metastasis in breast cancer.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Narrative review of molecular mechanisms and preclinical models without primary human trial data or systematic synthesis.
PubMed 42271153 · doi:10.1038/s41413-026-00547-z
What was done
This narrative review summarizes molecular mechanisms underlying breast cancer bone metastasis based on published literature. The authors describe the formation of the pre-metastatic niche driven by primary tumor-derived factors (exosomal RNAs, metabolites, and cytokines), the cellular crosstalk mediating the bone-destructive vicious cycle (involving RANKL, PTHrP, and TGF-β), tumor-induced immunosuppression, angiogenesis, and emerging targeted, immune, epigenetic, and nanomedicine therapies.
What was found
The review notes that bone is the most frequent metastatic site in breast cancer, representing approximately 70% of metastatic cases. No quantitative comparative results, trial endpoints, or experimental outcome metrics are reported in the abstract.
Why it matters
Understanding the intercellular signalling and immunosuppressive mechanisms within the bone metastatic niche provides a mechanistic rationale for novel targeted therapeutics to halt osteolytic destruction in advanced breast cancer.
Limits
The paper is a narrative review presenting mechanism-based models rather than original empirical data or a systematic review of trials. The abstract provides no sample size, search protocol, or quantitative data evaluating specific therapeutic interventions.
Cited by
- supports Bone is one of the most common sites of cancer metastasis.