Methods and pharmaceutical compositions for the treatment of bone metastases

A method of testing whether a patient with a cancer is at risk of having bone mestatases comprising i) determining the expression level of ROBO4 in a sample obtained from said patient ii) comparing the level determined at step i) with a predetermined reference level and iii) concluding that the patient has a high risk of having bone mestatases when the level determined at step i) is higher than the predetermined reference level.

A method of preventing or treating bone metastases in a subject in need thereof comprising testing whether the subject is at risk of having bone mestatases comprising i) determining the expression level of ROBO4 in a sample obtained from said subject ii) comparing the level determined at step i) with a predetermined reference level, iii) concluding that the subject has a high risk of having bone mestatases when the level determined at step i) is higher than the predetermined reference level and iv) administering the subject at high risk of having bone mestatases with an agent selected from the group consisting of an anti-ROBO4 antibody, an anti-ROBO4 aptamer, a ROBO4 decoy polypeptide, an inhibitor of ROBO4 expression.