Bone structure modified by cancer cells by Aurélie Levillain, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1.
Metastatic bone section stained with Masson-Goldner trichrome (green: mineralised tissue; red: osteoid, cells, connective tissue). The sample was extracted from a human femur with mixed metastases. A gradient in cancer cell (in red) density can be observed from the bottom left part to the top right part of the section. Cancer cells disrupt bone remodelling, resulting in either bone tissue loss (bottom left part) or bone tissue formation (central part). This change in bone structure will likely alter bone mechanical strength. Scale bar: 2mm.
