Severe osteoporosis: diagnosis and follow-up. Lessons for clinical practice

The management of osteoporosis has improved considerably, leading to the development of new goals. A major concern today is the management of patients with severe osteoporosis, in whom the need for pharmacotherapy is clear [1]. Epidemiological data have established that osteoporosis is associated with severe complications [2,3]. Furthermore, osteoporosis is now recognized as a complication of several chronic diseases, whose presence adversely affects the management of osteoporosis. The ODISSEE task force (Osteoporosis DIagnosis and Surveillance of SEvErity) was established to answer practical questions regarding the management of severe osteoporosis, based on evidence in the literature. Several groups conducted an exhaustive literature review, and advice was obtained from a panel of French rheumatologists. The ODISSEE scientific committee then developed the first consensus statement on the diagnosis, follow-up and management of severe osteoporosis. This statement was validated by a panel of 70 French rheumatologists at the first national ODISSEE meeting held on November 13-14, 2009

Perspectives dans la maladie de Gorham–Stout

National audienceThe Gorham–Stout disease belongs to lymphatic abnormalities and corresponds to a lymphatic endothelial cell proliferation under the stimulation of growth factors. This proliferation leads to a bone invasion and progressively to a typical vanishing bone aspect. Fracture risk and its consequences, chylothorax with sometimes fatal issue are the main complications of this disease. Physiopathological mechanisms remain poorly understood. Treatments of this rare bone disease, susceptible to affect every age from infant to adults, rely on bisphosphonates, radiotherapy, surgery, interferon alpha 2b and anti-angiogenic drugs such as sunitinib.La maladie de Gorham–Stout appartient au groupe des malformations lymphatiques et se traduit par une prolifération de cellules lymphatiques sous l’influence de facteurs de croissance (VEGF) conduisant à un envahissement progressif de l’os. L’os disparaît peu à peu donnant typiquement un aspect d’os fantôme. L’enjeu est le risque fracturaire et ses conséquences ainsi que le risque de chylothorax potentiellement fatal. Les mécanismes physiopathologiques sont encore incomplets. Les traitements rapportés dans la littérature pour cette maladie exceptionnelle qui touche de l’enfant à l’adulte sont les bisphosphonates, la radiothérapie, la chirurgie, l’interféron alpha 2b et les médicaments anti-angiogéniques dont le plus prometteur est le sunitinib

Bone metastasis : mechanisms, therapies and biomarkers

Skeletal metastases are frequent complications of many cancers, causing bone complications (fractures, bone pain, disability), which negatively affect the patient's quality of life. Here, we first discuss the burden of skeletal complications in cancer bone metastasis. We then describe the pathophysiology of bone metastasis. Bone metastasis is a multistage process; long before the development of clinically detectable metastases, circulating tumor cells settle and enter a dormant state in normal vascular and endosteal niches present in the bone marrow, which provide immediate attachment and shelter, and only become active years later as they proliferate and alter the functions of bone-resorbing (osteoclasts) and bone-forming (osteoblasts) cells, promoting skeletal destruction. The molecular mechanisms involved in mediating each of these steps are described and we also explain how tumor cells interact with a myriad of interconnected cell populations in the bone marrow, including a rich vascular network, immune cells, adipocytes and nerves. We discuss metabolic programs that tumor cells could engage with to specifically grow in bone. We also describe the progress and future directions of existing bone-targeted agents and report emerging therapies that have arisen from recent advances in our understanding of the pathophysiology of bone metastases. Finally, we discuss the value of bone turnover biomarkers in detection and monitoring of progression and therapeutic effects in patients with bone metastasis