Most men are receiving significantly more radiation therapy than needed to manage bone pain caused by advanced prostate cancer, according to a research letter in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
After reviewing 2006-2009 Medicare data on more than 3,000 men with advanced prostate cancer, researchers found only 3% were receiving the appropriate radiation doses for pain (JAMA, October 9, 2013, Vol. 310:14, pp. 1501-1502).
Despite continued evidence that only one radiation fraction, or treatment, is needed to control pain, more than half of the men reviewed had received more than 10 fractions.
![A 53-year-old patient (patient number four) with a recurrent pituitary adenoma with extension of a cystic component of disease to the medial temporal lobe apparent on MRI (contoured in blue), and extension of disease to the left sphenoid bone and orbital apex apparent on [68Ga]Ga-DOTA-TATE (contoured in yellow).](https://img.auntminnie.com/mindful/smg/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/04/pituitary-tumor.QGsEnyB4bU.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=crop&h=100&q=70&w=100)
![A 53-year-old patient (patient number four) with a recurrent pituitary adenoma with extension of a cystic component of disease to the medial temporal lobe apparent on MRI (contoured in blue), and extension of disease to the left sphenoid bone and orbital apex apparent on [68Ga]Ga-DOTA-TATE (contoured in yellow).](https://img.auntminnie.com/mindful/smg/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/04/pituitary-tumor.QGsEnyB4bU.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&dpr=2&fit=crop&h=167&q=70&w=250)
