Clinical utility of 188Rhenium-hydroxyethylidene-1,1-diphosphonate as a bone pain palliative in multiple malignancies

188 Rhenium-hydroxyethylidene-1,1-diphosphonate ( 188 Re-HEDP) is a clinically established radiopharmaceutical for bone pain palliation of patients with metastatic bone cancer. Herein, the effectiveness of 188 Re-HEDP for the palliation of painful bone metastases was investigated in an uncontrolled initial trial in 48 patients with different types of advanced cancers. A group of 48 patients with painful bone metastases of lung, prostate, breast, renal, and bladder cancer was treated with 2.96–4.44 GBq of 188 Re-HEDP. The overall response rate in this group of patients was 89.5%, and their mean visual analog scale score showed a reduction from 9.1 to 5.3 ( P 188 Re-HEDP. Flare reaction was observed in 54.2% of patients between day 1 and day 3. There was no correlation between flare reaction and response to therapy ( P 188 Re-HEDP, it did not result in any significant clinical problems. The present study confirmed the clinical utility and cost-effectiveness of 188 Re-HEDP for palliation of painful bone metastases from various types of cancer in developing countries.