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Dose Escalated External Beam Palliative Radiation Therapy for Controlling Pain in Patients with Bone Metastases and Non-bone Metastases

Trial Status: active

This phase II trial tests how well dose escalated external beam palliative radiation works in controlling pain in patients with cancer that has spread from where it first started (primary site) to the bone (bone metastases) or other places in the body that aren't bone (non-bone metastases). Radiation therapy uses high energy x-rays, particles, or radioactive seeds to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. Radiation therapy is often used as part of curative therapy and occasionally as a component of non-curative (palliative) treatment for cancer. Palliative radiation is usually given in small doses, called fractions, over multiple days of treatment and may help patients with advanced or metastatic cancer live more comfortably. Dose escalated radiation delivers a larger amount of radiation per fraction than the standard of care palliative dose. Giving dose escalated palliative external beam radiation may improve pain control, treatment response, and quality of life in patients with non-spinal bone metastases and non-bone metastases.