In many cases, when cancer metastasizes to the skeletal system, the condition is terminal.  Moreover, bone density is lost when cancer proliferates, thereby causing a decrease in quality of life. The two types of cancer that are most likely to metastasize to the bone are breast and prostate cancer.  This summer, I am working under Vivian Ma, as I investigate the changes in the level of calcium secreted by osteocytes immersed in cancer cell conditioned media. MLO-Y4 cells, a line of osteocytes, as well as MDA-MB-231 cells, a sample of breast cancer cells from a donor, are being used.