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Three-dimensional trabecular bone architecture of the lumbar spine in bone metastasis from prostate cancer: comparison with degenerative sclerosis

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Abstract

Objective

Prostate cancer frequently metastasizes to bone, inducing osteosclerotic lesions. The objective of this study was to clarify the three-dimensional (3D) trabecular bone microstructure in bone metastasis from prostate cancer by comparison with normal and degenerative sclerotic bone lesions, using microcomputed tomography (micro-CT).

Design and materials

A total of 32 cancellous bone samples were excised from the lumbar spine of six autopsy patients: 15 metastatic samples (one patient), eight degenerative sclerotic samples (four patients) and the rest from normal sites (three patients). The samples were serially scanned cross-sectionally by micro-CT with a pixel size of 23.20 µm, slice thickness of 18.56 µm, and image matrix of 512×512. Each image data set consisted of 250 consecutive slices. The volumes of interest (96×96×120 voxels) were defined in the original image sets and 3D indices of the trabecular microstructure were determined.

Results

The trabecular thickness (Tb.Th) in degenerative sclerotic lesions was significantly higher than that in normal sites, whereas no significant difference was observed in trabecular number (Tb.N). By contrast, in metastatic lesions, the Tb.N was significantly higher with increased bone volume fraction (BV/TV) than in normal sites, and no significant difference was found in Tb.Th. The characteristics of the trabecular surface in the metastatic samples showed concave structural elements with an increase in BV/TV, indicating osteolysis of the trabecular bone. In 3D reconstructed images, increased trabecular bone with an irregular surface was observed in samples from metastatic sites, which were uniformly sclerotic on soft X-ray radiographs.

Conclusion

These results support, through 3D morphological features, the strong bone resorption effect in bone metastasis from prostate cancer.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported in part by a Research Project Grant (no. 12-504) from Kawasaki Medical School. The authors would like to thank Hitoshi Nagatsuka, DDS, PhD and Noriyuki Nagai, DDS, PhD for their technical assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, Kawasaki Medical School, 577 Matsushima, 701-0192, Kurashiki, Okayama , Japan

    Tsutomu Tamada, Teruki Sone, Shigeki Imai, Yasumasa Kajihara & Masao Fukunaga

  2. Department of Urology, Kawasaki Medical School, 577 Matsushima, 701-192, Kurashiki, Okayama, Japan

    Yoshimasa Jo

Authors
  1. Tsutomu Tamada
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  2. Teruki Sone
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  3. Yoshimasa Jo
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  4. Shigeki Imai
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  5. Yasumasa Kajihara
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  6. Masao Fukunaga
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Correspondence to Tsutomu Tamada.

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Tamada, T., Sone, T., Jo, Y. et al. Three-dimensional trabecular bone architecture of the lumbar spine in bone metastasis from prostate cancer: comparison with degenerative sclerosis. Skeletal Radiol 34, 149–155 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00256-004-0855-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00256-004-0855-x

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