ABSTRACT
The incidence of cancer in the United States is over a million new cases a year
(excluding cancers of the skin), of which over 100,000, perhaps up to 150,000
patients a year, develop bone metastases. The frequently occurring tumors
that spread to the bone are prostate, breast, and lung cancer. The presence of
bone metastases obviously signals reduced survival but also heralds a number
of clinically significant complications, including bone pain which will afflict
up to two-thirds of those with bone metastases. Other complications include frac-
ture, hypercalcemia, and spinal cord compression. This chapter will discuss the
role of nuclear medicine in pain control of these painful osseous metastases.
