Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy for Osseous Low Alpha-Beta Resistant Metastases for Pain Relief

Radiation therapy has been shown to be very effective at relieving pain caused by bone metastases. However, certain types of cancers such as prostate, breast, kidney, and melanoma can have resistance to radiation, making treatment less successful. Stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) is a newer form of focused treatment that gives higher doses of radiation without damage to surrounding organs. It often is used to help control and cure disease, but less commonly as a way to palliate and treat symptoms. This study is looking at using SBRT for the purposes of improving pain caused by bone metastases in prostate cancer, breast cancer, kidney cancer, and melanoma patients. It is theorized that the higher levels of radiation may be able to combat the resistance some tumour cells have to radiotherapy and provide improved pain response to treatment. The investigators are looking to show that SBRT has a role in helping this group of patients deal with painful bone lesions from their cancer without increasing side effects and toxicity from the radiation treatment.