The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) has updated 2017 clinical guidelines for treating patients with symptomatic bone metastases with external beam radiation therapy (RT).
The guidelines continue to recommend multiple dose-fractionation schemes to relieve pain and other symptoms of bone and spine lesions, with an emphasis on patient-centered care, ASTRO said. The document was published online May 22 in Practical Radiation Oncology.
Since the last update in 2017, several large trials have demonstrated the benefits of advanced radiation techniques such as intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) to administer highly targeted, escalated radiation doses for certain patients with bone or spine lesions. Evidence from these clinical trials was included in a systematic review conducted by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to inform the guideline update, ASTRO said.
“The use of conformal radiation and dose escalation for symptomatic bone metastases has moved from the experimental domain toward routine clinical care for many patients,” noted Sara Alcorn, MD, PhD, vice-chair of the guideline task force, in a news release.
