Question:My father was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer and
they thought he also had bone cancer in several places.
second opinion says that it's not bone cancer, that it's a
bone disease called Pagid Disease. I haven't been able to
find very much information on this disease. In his follow
up visits to the dr. they say there is really no way of
knowing whether its cancer or pagid because they would have
to do a bone graph on every bone. They are treating him for
his prostate and hoping that if it's bone cancer the
treatment will help it. If anyone has ever had an
experience with this or any information please reply. I
just need to make sure my father is getting good treatment.
Answer:Paget's disease of the bone is a very common bone disease in elderly
people, characterized by bone formation and reabsorption in a
disorganized fashion. Radiographic correlation may be useful for the
major sites of involvement, but there is specific treatment for
Paget's disease, too. It makes sense to get some biochemical markers
PSA for the prostate cancer and there are unrinary measures of bone
turnover (probably not specific for one or the other) and Alkaline
Phosphatase (can be up in both). Giving Biphosphonates and Calcitonin
may help the Paget's disease. Bone biopsies can also be done for key
areas which don't respond. For example, if there is concern about an
area that doesn't seem to respond to treatment, if the bone isn't too
inaccessible or near vital structures, one could biopsy it. Depending
on the situation, I'd probably direct treatment at both conditions,
since both can lead to symptomatic bone pain.
