Matthew R. Callstrom, MD, PhD

Ablation techniques have rapidly evolved and have been proved effective for treatment of benign skeletal lesions and, more recently, for palliation of painful metastatic skeletal disease. Treatment of primary bone lesions is largely restricted to benign lesions, such as osteoid osteomas, as a single-modality treatment or as an adjunct to surgical resection.1-4 The use of ablation techniques for treatment of metastatic disease has developed because of the often disabling pain cancer patients experience. This pain can persist despite use of conventional therapies, including external-beam radiation and opioid analgesics.5-8