Metastasis: Bone Lesion

Cancers are sorted by a combination of rarity, overall frequency of metastases, and predilection for this site. Change metastases list to be ungrouped by characteristic.

Unspecified Characteristics

Cancer	Frequency	Comments
Colorectal Adenocarcinoma	Rare	does not occur without already having mets to liver and lung
Adrenal Cortical Carcinoma	Common
Gastric Adenocarcinoma	Rare
Rhabdomyosarcoma	Common
Merkel Cell Carcinoma	Uncommon
Mixed Mullerian Tumor of the Uterus	Uncommon
Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma	Rare
Pheochromocytoma	Common
Thymoma	Rare

Blastic

Cancer	Frequency	Comments
Prostate Adenocarcinoma	Common	most common site (90%)
Small Cell Lung Cancer	Common
Osteosarcoma	(Primary Tumor)	Typically arises in the metaphysis of long bones.
Pancreatic Neuroendocrine	Uncommon
Transitional Cell Carcinoma of the Bladder	Common
Osteosarcoma	Uncommon	hematogenous metastases to the spine or pelvis are most common
Gastrointestinal Carcinoid	Uncommon	Classically, these are blastic metastases, but a recent series showed both lytic and blastic lesions (PMID: 12571207).
Medulloblastoma	Common	most common site of distant metastasis
Hodgkin's Lymphoma	Rare	Most commonly involves the spine. Involves bone usually by direct extension.

Calcified

Cancer	Frequency	Comments
Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma	Common	predominantly lytic. mixed and blastic lesions have been described, however.

Lytic

Cancer	Frequency	Comments
Non-Small Cell Lung Carcinoma	Common
Renal Cell Carcinoma	Common
Hepatocellular Carcinoma	Common
Melanoma	Uncommon
Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma	Common	predominantly lytic. mixed and blastic lesions have been described, however.
Neuroblastoma	Common	Metastatic involvement of the skull has been found in up to 25% of patients with neuroblastoma. Neuroblastoma is the most common malignant metastasis to the skull in children. AJR Am J Roentgenol. 2010 May;194(5):1223-9. PMID: 20410407
Esophageal Cancer	Uncommon
Basal Cell Carcinoma	Common
Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck	Uncommon
Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma	Uncommon	second most common site for first distant metastasis
Cervical Cancer	Rare
Endometrial Cancer	Rare
Testicular Cancer	Rare	involvement occurs late
Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor	Rare
Gastrointestinal Carcinoid	Uncommon	Classically, these are blastic metastases, but a recent series showed both lytic and blastic lesions (PMID: 12571207).
Epithelial Ovarian Cancer	Very Rare
Gallbladder Cancer	Rare
Hemangiopericytoma	Common
Astrocytoma	Common
Cholangiocarcinoma	Very Rare
Hodgkin's Lymphoma	Rare	Most commonly involves the spine. Involves bone usually by direct extension.
Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma	Very Rare

Mixed Lytic and Blastic

Cancer	Frequency	Comments
Breast Adenocarcinoma	Common	less common with triple-negative cancers
Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma	Common	predominantly lytic. mixed and blastic lesions have been described, however.
Pancreatic Neuroendocrine	Uncommon
Transitional Cell Carcinoma of the Bladder	Common
Hodgkin's Lymphoma	Rare	Most commonly involves the spine. Involves bone usually by direct extension.
Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma	Very Rare

Periosteal Reaction

Cancer	Frequency	Comments
Neuroblastoma	Common	Metastatic involvement of the skull has been found in up to 25% of patients with neuroblastoma. Neuroblastoma is the most common malignant metastasis to the skull in children. AJR Am J Roentgenol. 2010 May;194(5):1223-9. PMID: 20410407

Permeative

Cancer	Frequency	Comments
Neuroblastoma	Common	Metastatic involvement of the skull has been found in up to 25% of patients with neuroblastoma. Neuroblastoma is the most common malignant metastasis to the skull in children. AJR Am J Roentgenol. 2010 May;194(5):1223-9. PMID: 20410407