Novel mediators of breast cancer bone metastasis—insights from studies of gene-regulation and the global proteome

Breast cancer (BCa) is a leading cause of cancer death in women, being responsible for 458,000 deaths worldwide within women each year (1). Metastatic spread to the skeleton is a significant complication with over 75% of advanced breast cancer patients developing bone metastases (2). Current treatment options for breast cancer bone metastasis focus on the use of bone targeted agents such as denosumab (3) or bisphosphonates (4) to reduce the occurrence of skeletal related events, such as pathological fractures, hypercalcaemia or spinal cord compression.