Bone Metastasis Feeds Itself

Bone metastasis can turn remodeling into a vicious circle. Tumor and stromal cells shift the RANKL/OPG balance, activating RANK on osteoclast precursors. The resulting osteoclasts excavate bone, while the same pathway is implicated in tumor migration toward bone, angiogenesis, and vascular permeability. That makes RANKL more than a trigger of bone loss: it is a shared connection between the metastatic seed and the skeletal niche. Interrupting it may therefore break several links in the cycle at once.