TOTAL AND REGIONAL BONE MASS IN METASTATIC CANCER OF THE PROSTATE

Objectives: Given the discrepancies in the findings of regional bone d ensitometry in patients with osseous metastases of prostate cancer, we decided to evaluate total and regional bone mineral content in 21 pat ients with stage D cancer of the prostate. These measurements were com pared with those of a group of healthy subjects of similar age (n = 21 ). Methods: A full body bone densitometry was carried out in all of th e men. Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry was used. Results: There were no differences between groups in the anthropometric variables (Student 's t test). There were no differences between groups in the bone mass of the skull and arms, but patients had less bone mass in the trunk an d legs (p < 0.05) and in the pelvis (p < 0.0001). Total body bone mine ral content and total body bone mineral content corrected for weight a lso were lower in the patients than in the control group (p < 0.005). Conclusion: These results show that patients with prostate cancer and bone metastases have decreased bone mass, possibly because of a predom inance of osteolytic over osteoblastic metastases.