Broken ribs with cancer but not metastasis?
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Hello, I've looked for this topic and have not found it anywhere, so starting a new one. My whole journey began in such a strange way! I woke up one morning in severe pain on my left side, was that way for a few days and it suddenly spread to my right side. I had not had any injuries or falls but the pain continued to get worse. First trip to the ER they did a chest x-ray which was neg, I was sent home with pain pills. A week later I was back at ER, had a chest CT, I had five broken ribs, two on the left, three on the right. This was all in February of this year. They asked if I was being abused, if I had fallen, had been injured. Fast forward to March and I'm diagnosed with IDC right side, 3.7cm tumor, stage 2, grade 2, then April 27th IDC left side 1cm tumor stage 1, bone scan showed I had six broken ribs, 2 on left, 4 on right, they call it spontaneous rib fracture. After all tests, there is no metastases to the bone or anywhere else, no osteoporosis, I do have vitamin D deficiency but that is all. Everyone is baffled. My bones keep breaking!! Has anyone else had this or can anyone shed some light on it? Apparently because I have normal bone density they won't treat me for osteoporosis, but I had broken 2 ribs last year too, and they cannot tell if it is related to the cancer!!
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Broken ribs without an injury would make most doctors suspect bone mets. However a biopsy can't really be performed if it doesn't show up in imaging. I don't really have an answer for you, but hope your doctors are able to resolve it since it is serious.
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With broken bones and no apparent injury, further studies for soft or brittle bones, and the diseases that cause those bone issues, should be explored. There are several other diagnosis that can contribute to spontaneous bone breakage.
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Godswildstar - so sorry to hear about your breaks and the BC! I had a lot of rib pain just prior to Dx with BC. They x-ray'ed my ribs and found no breaks - which was good but did not help explain the pain. There is a Hx of osteoporosis in my family so they did a bone density test before I began chemo. If both metastasis and osteoporosis have been ruled out, there are such things as more rare "fragile bone" disorders. I would recommend talking with your PCP or oncologist about consulting an orthopedic specialist. Especially depending on your age and the type of treatment you need, treatments for cancer can make you more vulnerable to thinning bones. If you did have a co-morbidity like a bone disorder, they might need to treat it or want to monitor your bone health more carefully following treatment for cancer. Please be sure your care team make appropriate referrals. Take care and be well!
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