ABSTRACT
The most important disease in which prostaglandins (PGs) might be involved was cancer; therefore the synthesis of PGs by tumor cells and the effects of PGs on them received a great deal of attention. Their role in tumor promotion, growth, and metastasis is adequately dealt with elsewhere, and will be mentioned only where there is an association with bone destruction. Bone resorption is a common feature of malignancy and can occur as a consequence of malignant cell growth in or adjacent to bone, or at sites distant from the malignant cells, presumably due to the release of hormone-like factors by them which act on bone cells. Tissue culture has undoubtedly been the most important tool for investigating the mechanisms of tumor-induced bone resorption, and it was over 25 years ago that it was used in the first steps towards unraveling these mechanisms.
