[Pathophysiology of bone metastases in urologic carcinomas]

[Vertebral metastases of urogenital carcinomas: Diagnosis and conservative therapy]

The high incidence of bone metastases of urologic neoplasms and their morbidity, especially of vertebral metastases, requires exact diagnosis and consequent therapy. Conventional radiography plays an important role in the diagnosis of symptomatic bone lesions. Computed tomography can evaluate the stability of metastatic lesions and is indispensable for therapy planning. MRI and PET-CT have the highest diagnostic accuracy for the detection of bone metastases and MRI can evaluate their intra- and extraosseus components. PET-CT, PET-MRI, or SPECT-CT in combination with specific tracers - due to their high specificity and sensitivity - have the potential to replace conventional methods in the future. Conservative treatment basically consists of analgesic therapy, the administration of calcium and vitamin D3 and bisphosphonates or inhibitors of RANKL (denosumab). Moreover radium-223-dichloride can improve overall survival and the time to the first symptomatic skeletal event in castration-resistant prostate cancer patients with bone metastases.