Biological Image Guided Antalgic Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy of Bone Metastases

In various common cancers, the skeleton is a preferred site of metastasis. These bone metastases are the most common cause of cancer-related pain, which significantly impair quality of life. It is postulated that the clinical target volume (CTV) of painful bone metastases consists of cancer cells and tumor-associated host cells: the tumor-host ecosystem. Advances in biological imaging (positron emitting tomography PET) might allow us to selectively identify the tumor-host ecosystem within the anatomical boundaries of a bone metastasis. These findings suggest the potential of intentionally non-homogenous dose escalation (dose painting by numbers) to improve pain control. The hypothesis is that fluorodeoxyglucose positron emitting tomography (FDG-PET) can detect the intra-bone metastasis regions confined with tumor-associated host-cell compartments responsible for metastasis-related pain. The primary objective is to improve pain control with biological image-guided stereotactic body radiotherapy compared to conventional radiotherapy.