Colorectal Cancer Progression and Bone Metastasis: Molecular Mechanisms, Tumor Microenvironment, and Tumor-Bone Crosstalk.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Narrative review synthesizing mechanistic and clinical literature without systematic review methodology.
PubMed 42382463 · doi:10.2147/CMAR.S579585
What was done
This narrative review synthesized preclinical, translational, and clinical evidence regarding the molecular mechanisms, tumor microenvironment, and tumor-bone crosstalk underlying colorectal cancer (CRC) bone metastasis, examining pathways such as TGF-β, Wnt/β-catenin, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, chemokine regulation, and bone niche immune interactions.
What was found
The authors report that bone metastasis occurs in 1.2% to 12% of advanced CRC patients and frequently coexists with liver or lung metastases. It is associated with skeletal-related events, including pathological fractures, spinal cord compression, and hypercalcemia. No primary quantitative data or statistical pooling was reported in the abstract.
Why it matters
Bone metastases in CRC are associated with significant morbidity, and distinguishing CRC-specific mechanisms from other bone-tropic cancers can help define relevant therapeutic targets.
Limits
As a narrative review, it lacks a systematic search protocol, predefined study selection criteria, risk-of-bias assessment, or pooled quantitative analysis. The abstract does not provide the total number of studies evaluated.
Cited by
- supports Bone is one of the most common sites of cancer metastasis.