Bone-Muscle Crosstalk: Musculoskeletal Complications of Chemotherapy

• Published in: Current osteoporosis reports Vol. 20; no. 6; pp. 433 - 441
• Main Authors: Hain, Brian A., Waning, David L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01-12-2022
• Subjects: Antineoplastic Agents - adverse effects; Bone and Bones; Epidemiology; Humans; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Muscle and Bone (A Bonetto and M Brotto; Muscle Weakness - chemically induced; Muscle, Skeletal; Neoplasms - drug therapy; Orthopedics; Quality of Life; Section Editors; Topical Collection on Muscle and Bone; Bone-muscle crosstalk; Chemotherapy; Muscle; Cachexia; Bone; Cancer
• ISSN: 1544-1873; 1544-2241
• DOI: 10.1007/s11914-022-00749-4

Purpose of Review
Chemotherapy drugs combat tumor cells and reduce metastasis. However, a significant side effect of some chemotherapy strategies is loss of skeletal muscle and bone. In cancer patients, maintenance of lean tissue is a positive prognostic indicator of outcomes and helps to minimize the toxicity associated with chemotherapy. Bone-muscle crosstalk plays an important role in the function of the musculoskeletal system and this review will focus on recent findings in preclinical and clinical studies that shed light on chemotherapy-induced bone-muscle crosstalk.
Recent Findings
Chemotherapy-induced loss of bone and skeletal muscle are important clinical problems. Bone antiresorptive drugs prevent skeletal muscle weakness in preclinical models. Chemotherapy-induced loss of bone can cause muscle weakness through both changes in endocrine signaling and mechanical loading between muscle and bone.
Summary
Chemotherapy-induced changes to bone-muscle crosstalk have implications for treatment strategies and patient quality of life. Recent findings have begun to determine the role of chemotherapy in bone-muscle crosstalk and this review summarizes the most relevant clinical and preclinical studies.