Palliative care of proximal femur metastatic disease and osteolytic lesions: results following surgical and radiation treatment

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

Abstract

Background: Femoral bone metastases (FBM) or lesions (FBL) can lead to loss of mobility and independence due to skeletal-related events (SRE), e.g. pain, deformity and pathological fractures. Aim of this study was to analyze effects of radiotherapy and surgery, different surgical techniques and complications on disease-specific survival (DSS). Methods: Patients who underwent palliative therapy for FBM or FBL between 2014 and 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. Chi-square test was used to detect intergroup differences. Survival was calculated using Kaplan-Meier method, Cox regression and compared using log-rank test. Complications were evaluated using Chi-Square test. Results: 145 patients were treated for proximal femoral BM/BL or pathologic fractures (10 bilaterally). Three groups were classified: surgery only (S, n = 53), surgery with adjuvant radiation (S + RT, n = 58), and primary radiation only (RT, n = 44). Most common primary tumors were breast (n = 31), prostate (n = 27), and non-small cell lung cancer (n = 27). 47 patients underwent surgery for an impending, 61 for a manifest pathological fracture. There were no significant differences in DSS between the 3 groups (S = 29.8, S + RT = 32.2, RT = 27.1 months), with the S + RT group having the longest one-year survival. Local complications occurred in 25 of 145 patients after a mean interval of 9.9 months. Conclusion: Due to the steadily increasing incidence and survival of patients with FBM/FBL, indication for prevention and treatment of painful and immobilizing SREs should be critically assessed. Surgical treatment should always be performed with maximum stability and, whenever possible, adjuvant RT.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number1431
Number of pages16
JournalBMC cancer
Volume24 (2024)
Issue number1
Publication statusPublished - 21 Nov 2024
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

PubMed 39574021

Keywords

Sustainable Development Goals

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Keywords

  • Impending fracture, Intramedullary nailing, Multimodal cancer therapies, Osteolytic bone lesions, Pathological fracture, Proximal femoral metastasis, Skeletal-related events