Prostate Cancer With Metastatic Lytic Bone Lesions: Positive Bone Scan Post Docetaxel Chemotherapy in the Setting of Clinically Successful Treatment

Prostate cancer bone metastases biology and clinical management (Review)

Prostate cancer (PCa) is one of the most prominent causes of cancer-related mortality in the male population. A highly impactful prognostic factor for patients diagnosed with PCa is the presence or absence of bone metastases. The formation of secondary tumours at the bone is the most commonly observed site for the establishment of PCa metastases and is associated with reduced survival of patients in addition to a cohort of life-debilitating symptoms, including mobility issues and chronic pain. Despite the prevalence of this disease presentation and the high medical relevance of bone metastases, the mechanisms underlying the formation of metastases to the bone and the understanding of what drives the osteotropism exhibited by prostate tumours remain to be fully elucidated. This lack of in-depth understanding manifests in limited effective treatment options for patients with advanced metastatic PCa and culminates in the low rate of survival observed for this sub-set of patients. The present review aims to summarise the most recent promising advances in the understanding of how and why prostate tumours metastasise to the bone, with the ultimate aim of highlighting novel treatment and prognostic targets, which may provide the opportunity to improve the diagnosis and treatment of patients with PCa with bone metastases.

Complete paraplegia with diffuse osteolytic skeletal metastases: an uncommon presentation of carcinoma of the prostate

INTRODUCTION

Skeletal metastases of advanced prostatic cancer are usually osteoblastic in appearance. Osteolytic secondaries are an uncommon entity. In such scenarios, it is important to differentiate prostatic metastases from other pathologies which give an identical radiological appearance, such as multiple myeloma. Another important point to remember is that neurological complications secondary to prostatic metastases are quite uncommon.

CASE PRESENTATION

We describe a man with advanced prostatic carcinoma who presented to us with an uncommon combination of sudden onset complete paraplegia associated with diminished sensation in the lower half of the body and diffuse osteolytic lesions in the entire skeletal system. On detailed workup, it was found that his prostatic specific antigen (PSA) was grossly elevated. Markers for multiple myeloma were negative. Accordingly, computerized tomography of the abdomen was performed. The latter revealed an enlarged prostate gland infiltrating into the bladder base. Histopathological analysis from the prostate as well as the bone marrow showed an identical picture thereby confirming our diagnosis. The individual underwent palliative spinal canal decompression following which he was put on anti-androgenic treatment. At one year follow up, he was ambulatory and able to walk with use of crutches.

DISCUSSION

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of osteolytic prostatic metastases presenting as complete paraplegia. In this situation, in addition to evaluation for prostate CA, we also recommend screening for multiple myeloma as the clinico-radiological profile of the two diseases are similar but their management is very different.

Prostate carcinoma presenting with diffuse osteolytic metastases and supraclavicular lymphadenopathy mimicking multiple myeloma

Prostate cancer typically presents with osteoblastic metastases; however, patients with prostate cancer may have osteolytic metastases, as seen in this case. Patients with osteolytic metastases require a thorough evaluation to rule out malignancies including multiple myeloma, but prostate cancer is a very important differential diagnosis.