Public health crisis

Approximately 2 million people are living with cancer in the UK and this number is set to rise considerably over the next decade to 3.2M. A significant complication of late stage (stage 4) cancer is metastases or secondary tumours which are caused by tumour cells spreading to different locations in the body.

Metastases are particularly associated with breast cancer, which is the most common cancer in females and the leading cause of cancer deaths in this group. According to Cancer Research UK, 150 people every day are diagnosed with breast cancer. Although more than 76% of people with the disease survive for more than ten years, some patients do develop stage 4 cancers, of which it is estimated about 50% to 60% get bone tumours.  

The tumours weaken the bone and lead to a variety of problems for the patients at a time when quality of life is a paramount consideration, especially as the prognosis is usually terminal.

Significant issues include severe pain and spinal fracture which may lead to spinal cord injury. These complications often require major surgery which encroaches, significantly, on the patients’ quality of life, when life expectancy is a matter of months and may, in certain cases, provide a mechanism of further spread of the cancer. Currently, there are no implants for supporting the bones before fracture as we cannot identify which vertebrae are likely to fail.

A more patient-friendly approach is realised in OncoEng in which we predict which vertebrae with tumours are likely to fail in the future enabling informed decision on care.