Palliation of bone pain from bone metastasis by strontium-89

Strontium-89 (89Sr) is a radiopharmaceutical which accumulates in bone metastases showing increased calcium metabolism, emits β particles, and is used for palliative treatment for bone pain. A total of 65%-90% of the patients demonstrated an improvement of the pain symptoms. This agent is available for clinical use since October 2007 in Japan. Though it can be administered in outpatient clinics, some cautions must be taken because of its long physical half-life, bone marrow toxicity as a side effect, and so on. The guidelines published for 89Sr treatment procedures must be referred for the appropriate administration. Further academic investigations are expected such as tumoricidal effect of the agent, bremsstrahlung imaging with scintillation camera, combined radionuclide and chemotherapy, and so on. (author)