[Palliative Radiotherapy for Bone Metastases]

Bone metastasis is associated with many symptoms such as bone pain, pathological fracture, and spinal cord compression. Especially, pain secondary to bone metastases is a serious problem in many patients with metastatic cancer. Radiotherapy can provide remarkable pain relief, reduce the requirement for analgesic drugs, and prevent pathological fracture or spinal cord compression with few complications in most patients. Many randomized controlled trials have shown equivalent extent of pain relief between single-fraction and multiple-fraction regimens. Reirradiation of painful bone metastases is effective for palliation of pain in non-responders or patients with recurrent pain after an initial satisfactory response to a previous radiation therapy. Systemic administration of radioisotopes is an important palliative care option for painful multifocal bone metastases detected on nuclear imaging; however, the application of this option depends on the histologic features of the tumor and distribution of the metastases. Metastatic spinal cord compression is the most frequent oncologic emergency and necessitates timely and appropriate treatment. External beam radiotherapy is commonly used for the treatment of metastatic spinal cord compression. Surgical decompression and stabilization should be considered for metastatic spinal cord compression or pathological fracture in select patients. Postoperative radiotherapy should be administered to patients who have undergone surgical intervention for bone metastases. For patients at a high risk for oncologic emergency, optimal prophylactic management is highly recommended.