Prospective study of decreased bone mineral density in patients with cervical cancer without bone metastases: a preliminary report.

BACKGROUND: In women, osteoporosis is a common chronic disease that induces spinal compression and femoral neck fractures, resulting in life-threatening complications. It is very important to identify risk factors in order to prevent this disorder. Bone destruction is a well-recognized complication in a variety of neoplasms without bone metastasis. Therefore, in the present study, we investigated the spinal bone mineral density (BMD) in patients with cervical cancer without bone metastases.

METHODS: This was a prospective study. Before any treatment, the BMD in 50 patients with invasive cervical cancer without bone metastases was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and compared with those in 50 control women with the same distribution of age, height, weight and body mass index. None of the patients and control women had reached menopause.

RESULTS: The BMD in patients with cervical cancer was significantly lower (P < 0.05) than those of control women. However, serum levels of calcium and phosphate were not significantly different between the patients with cervical cancer and control women.

CONCLUSION: Our preliminary results suggest that patients with invasive cervical cancer have a lower BMD, resulting in an increased risk of osteoporosis.