Metastatic bone disease (2025 – CME) – online course
Description
Authors: F. Deschamps and B. Gonçalves
Reviewers: F. Basilico, D. Filippiadis, R. Iezzi, F. Orsi and R. Uberoi
This course corresponds to chapter 2.2.5.3.4 Malignant musculoskeletal disease in the European Curriculum and Syllabus for IR.
Abstract
Bone is the third most common site for metastasis. Metastatic bone disease is predominantly found in the central bones of the body, most commonly in the spine but also in the pelvis, proximal femur (hip bone), humerus, ribs and in the skull. Metastatic bone sites are rarely able to be cured because of a major component – bone marrow – that acts as an easy deposit and a way for the tumour cells to spread to other tissues. Thus, finding and treating bone metastases early can help prevent other problems later in the disease as well as the patient performance status.
Bone metastases are much more common than primary bone cancers, especially in adults. Tumours that commonly spread into bone are breast, prostate and lung cancers. Less frequent are colorectal, thyroid and kidney cancers.
Systemic therapies like chemotherapy, hormonotherapy and targeted molecular therapies are not aimed at specifically treating bone metastases, which is why minimally invasive and loco-regional therapies can play an additional role in early metastatic bone disease. Some might replace or help others, such as external radiation therapies or the classic radiopharmaceutical drugs.
Image-guided techniques particularly directed at bone lesions represent a growing field in the era of loco-regional treatments in oligometastatic diseases for some types of less aggressive cancers, sparing the patient from pain relief medication or additional chemotherapy lines.
Learning objectives
- Understand the different mechanisms of pain in patients suffering from bone metastases
- Know which techniques must be used for the treatment of bone metastases according to the clinical presentation
- Learn how to choose the right materials to perform correct, easy and safe bone access
- Know the indication and the limits of cementoplasty for bone metastases
- Understand the rationale for “augmented” cementoplasty compared to cementoplasty alone and know when it should be used
- Know the differences between ablative techniques and their limitations
- Learn how to achieve good outcomes according to different ablation techniques.
Further information
This course covers a basic level of IR knowledge and is designed for trainees, students or young consultants aiming to acquire essential knowledge or prepare for the EBIR exam. Thereby, it is tailored to the European Curriculum and Syllabus for IR and corresponds to chapter 2.2.5.3 Non-vascular interventional oncology.
The format of the course is interactive and easy to use, including texts, graphics, videos and a quiz to support your learning. The course duration is around one and a half hour and is accredited by the European Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (EACCME) to award 1.5 European CME credit (ECMEC). Please note that this course will be taken offline on August 06, 2030.
The acquired CME Certificate will be available in the myCIRSE area under CIRSE Academy.
The enrolment period of this course is linked to the validity of the All-Access Pass.
Release date: August 2025
