[Patient with skeletal metastases. Mobile despite destroyed bones].

Bone metastases endanger both the mobility of the cancer patient and his ability to profit from medical/nursing care. Treatment aims to prevent fractures of the long bones and vertebrae and to avoid neurological defects caused by compression of the spinal cord. Treatment is indicated when the following criteria are met: for the long bones a defect measuring more than 2.5 cm in length or affecting more than 50% of the circumference; for the vertebrae destruction of more than 60%. Almost all patients require radiotherapy, with a minority also needing surgical treatment in the form of intralesional tumor resection, closure of the defect with bone cement, and the use of metal implants.