[Pain palliation using unsealed radionuclides]

Chronic pain is one of the most frequent and distressing symptoms in patients suffering from bone metastases due to malignant disease. Besides pharmacological therapy using analgesics according to the WHO scheme and local surgical or radiotherapeutic treatment options, systemic radionuclide therapy is available, particularly for patients with multilocular metastatic disease. This palliative pain treatment is almost free of severe side effects and is thus indicated as a complementary therapy as part of an interdisciplinary approach in pain treatment. Moreover, preliminary data indicate a favorable cost:utility ratio. Positive clinical effects with marked reduction of pain are described in 70-80% of patients with breast or prostate cancer. However, complete analgesia is uncommon and, thus, most patients require analgesic treatment during the further course of their disease.