Grant: Operating Grant - Priority Announcement: Breast Cancer

Many malignant cancers can spread (i.e. metastasize) from their site of origin. A very common site of this spread is to the bone. The spine is the most common bone tissue affected. Diseased bones can cause pain and are at a greater risk for breaking (i.e. fracture). Metastatic disease in the bony spine can present as bone destroying (osteolytic), bone forming (osteoblastic) or as a mixture of the two (mixed), but all demonstrate an increased risk of fracture. We aim to understand the differences that exist in the inherent material behaviour of diseased bone in order to better understand the affect of tumour on bone and to develop improved computational image based methods that can accurately identify damage initiation in bone, fracture progression and bone failure. This research will determine the complex behaviour of cancer spread in the bony spine using cutting-edge medical imaging, experimental and computational methods. The ability to accurately determine the structural integrity in the metastatic spine will provide an important foundation on which to develop and direct local and systemic treatments and to evaluate the impact of new and existing therapies.