Radiotherapy for metastatic bone disease: current standards and future prospectus

Abstract

Changes in population dynamics will require increased end-of-life cancer care in the coming years. Palliative radiotherapy successfully relieves symptoms of advanced cancer, with the most common indication for its use being uncomplicated painful bone metastases. Single-fraction radiotherapy provides successful, time-efficient and cost-effective management of bone metastases. Newer technologies, such as stereotactic body radiotherapy, hold promise for some patients with spine metastases, although their niche has not been properly defined and their use outside of a protocol setting is inappropriate. Surgery should be considered for circumstances of completed or impending pathologic fracture, spinal instability, or spinal cord compression in patients who have adequate performance status and prognosis. Multiple sites of painful metastases may be treated with injectible radiopharmaceuticals or hemibody radiation. The future developments in palliative radiotherapy for bone metastases will mirror several forces affecting all of medicine, including resource allocation, the adoption of clinical guidelines and the integration of newer technologies.