Osteoprotegerin (OPG) is a decoy receptor of the receptor activator of nuclear factor-κB ligand (RANK-L) and plays an important role in the formation of metastatic bone lesions. We evaluated the usefulness of circulating OPG and RANK-L for the detection of bone metastases. We enrolled 143 individuals in the study: 30 healthy donors (HD) and 113 breast cancer patients. Among patients, 49 had no evidence of disease (NEDP), 54 had bone metastases (BMP) at first diagnosis, and 10 had visceral metastases (VMP). Both transcripts were determined in peripheral blood samples using quantitative PCR. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to calculate the diagnostic accuracy of OPG, RANK-L, CEA and CA15-3. OPG and RANK-L median values were significantly lower in BMP (median 0.5, range 0.1-5.7, p