
"I am glad that taking part in a trial might help others on their own cancer journey.”
This trial looked at the possibility of using a second radiotherapy session for pain caused by cancer that had spread to the bone. This trial was supported by Cancer Research UK.
Cancer can spread to the bone and it can be painful. Doctors can treat painful cancer spread to the bones with radiotherapy, which often works very well.
But sometimes it doesn’t work. Or it only works for a short time and then the pain comes back again. If this happens, some doctors give a second radiotherapy session, and some don’t. No one was sure how well a second radiotherapy session worked. Or what was the best dose to give.
In this trial, people who had already had radiotherapy to their bones once, but were still having pain, had more radiotherapy. They either had a low dose of radiotherapy in a single session () or a higher dose in 5 sessions.
The aims of the trial were to find out how well a second radiotherapy session worked for pain caused by cancer spread to the bones. And which dose of radiotherapy was best.
The trial team found that a lower dose in a single session of radiotherapy was as good as a higher dose in 5 sessions as a second treatment for bone pain caused by cancer.
This was a phase 3 trial. It recruited 850 people. It was a randomised trial. The people taking part were put into 1 of 2 groups
The researchers looked at how people were 2 months after their treatment. They found that the bone pain had responded in
The trial team then did a 2nd analysis. They took out those people who
This left them with the number of people in each group who were treated and followed up according to the protocol of the trial. There were
Out of these people, the researchers found that bone pain had responded in
This could have happened by chance, so it wasn't .
Two weeks after radiotherapy the most common side effects reported were loss of appetite and diarrhoea.
The trial team concluded that a low dose of radiotherapy in a single session was no worse than a higher dose in 5 sessions as a second treatment for bone pain caused by cancer.
We have based this summary on information from the team who ran the trial. The information they sent us has been reviewed by independent specialists () and published in a medical journal. The figures we quote above were provided by the trial team. We have not analysed the data ourselves.
Please note: In order to join a trial you will need to discuss it with your doctor, unless otherwise specified.
Professor Peter Hoskin
Cancer Research UK
National Institute for Health Research Cancer Research Network (NCRN)
This is Cancer Research UK trial number CRUK/04/002.
If you have questions about the trial please contact our cancer information nurses
Freephone 0808 800 4040
"I am glad that taking part in a trial might help others on their own cancer journey.”