Could less radiation be just as good for bone cancer pain?
NCT ID NCT06884332
First seen Jun 26, 2026 · Last updated Jun 26, 2026
Summary
This study looks at whether reducing the amount of spine radiated for painful bone metastases can still effectively relieve pain while possibly causing fewer side effects. About 600 people with spinal bone metastases will be randomly assigned to receive either standard radiation (covering the tumor plus one vertebra above and below) or a smaller radiation field (covering only the tumor and the affected vertebra). The main goal is to compare pain relief at 30 days after treatment.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- radiation therapy
- What this could lead to
- If successful, this could show that smaller radiation fields are just as good for pain relief, with fewer side effects, improving quality of life for people with bone metastases.
- What could go wrong
- This is a mid-sized trial, but results may not apply to all patients. There is a risk that reducing the radiation area might not control pain as well as the standard approach.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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About 598 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Jul 2025
- Expected to finish
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Jan 2029
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 years and older
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Patient with bone pain related to at least 1 or more bone metastases of spinal location, contiguous or not, cervical (excluding C1), thoracic, lumbar or sacral up to and including S2; a patient can be included even if he or she is irradiated concomitantly or not for analgesic purposes on another non-spinal bone metastatic site. Bone lesions are objective on an imaging examination less than 3 months old: CT and/or MRI and/or PET and/or bone scintigraphy; * Patient with at least moderate pain with EN ≥ 5; * Patient on analgesic drug treatment for at least 7 days or poor tolerance of analgesics; * Patient irradiated for palliative analgesic purposes. Post-cementoplasty irradiation is possible; an extension to the soft tissues is not a contraindication to inclusion; * Patient with a validated palliative bone irradiation plan: 8 Gy / 1 fr or 20 Gy / 5 fr; * Patient with planning only in static IMRT, arc therapy or helical tomotherapy; * Patient with a primary cancer or a haemopathy; * Patient currently undergoing or not a specific oncological systemic treatment, left to the discretion of the investigating physician; * Patient currently undergoing or not a treatment with bisphosphonates and denosumab, left to the discretion of the investigating physician; * WHO ≤ 2; * Patient with a life expectancy ≥ 3 months; * Patient able and agreeing to follow all study procedures in accordance with the protocol; * Patient having understood, signed and dated the consent form; * Patient affiliated to the social security system. Exclusion Criteria: * Pediatric patient; * Patient undergoing stereotaxic irradiation; * Patient undergoing oligometastatic disease; * Patient undergoing re-irradiation unless the dose is not limiting to OARs; * Patient treated with RT2D (conventional 2-dimensional radiotherapy) or RT3D (conventional 3-dimensional radiotherapy); * Patient with MESCC (metastatic epidural spinal cord compression) except for a Bilsky grade \< 1b; * Patient who does not have a means of responding to online questionnaires; * Patient and their entourage who cannot read or express themselves in French; * Visually impaired patient; * Patient already included in another therapeutic trial with an experimental molecule; * Persons deprived of liberty or under guardianship (including curatorship). * Pregnant woman, likely to be pregnant, or breastfeeding
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
4 sites. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Centre Henri Becquerel Rouen
RECRUITINGRouen, Rouen, 76038, France
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Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Brest
RECRUITINGBrest, Brest, 29609, France
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Institut de Cancérologie de Lorraine
RECRUITINGVandœuvre-lès-Nancy, 54511, France
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Institut de cancérologie de l'Ouest (ICO)
RECRUITINGSaint-Herblain, Saint-Herblain, 44805, France
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