Impact of skeletal complications on patients' quality of life, mobility, and functional independence.

INTRODUCTION: Skeletal-related events (SREs) from malignant bone disease cause considerable morbidity and can dramatically reduce patients' quality of life. DISCUSSION: Pathologic fractures often require surgical intervention and palliative radiotherapy. Thus, patients suffer impaired mobility, loss of functional independence, and diminished health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Bisphosphonates can delay the onset and reduce the incidence of SREs and have become the standard of care for the treatment of malignant bone disease; however, minimal information on the effects of bisphosphonate treatment on HRQOL is available. Targeted HRQOL assessments for patients with malignant bone disease are currently under development and are discussed herein.