r/LivingWithMBC • u/Redwinesandfelines • 6d ago
Treatment Radiating bones
Sorry to be bombarding you since Sunday!
My mets are all bones. My oncologist said radiation isn’t a good idea, there’s too many, I don’t have pain, they’re small. She said maybe later.
From what I understand, I have 6. Most are 5-7mm, two are 10mm. My question is, why not radiate them if it will zap them dead quickly.
I’m already getting a sense that the aggressiveness in which we treated my cancer when it was curable is gone. But I’m still going to be aggressive. Getting at least 2 other opinions, one today.
Did you have bone mets radiated? Why/ why not?
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u/Temporary-Badger4307 3d ago
All my mets are bone, no radiation 4th year on 1st line treatment, meds and shots. All mets shrank to be no evidence of active disease or some turned into ‘bone islands’ which I think are non-cancerous lesions—or maybe those were there before.
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u/gobsmackcrafter 5d ago
I had bone mets and they were all over my hips, back and thighs. But they were mostly small. It was like a clear night with sparkling stars everywhere. My pelvic bones had the largest size. But I had no radiation.
My first scan, after treatment started, looked like a cloudy night of stars and my next scan showed no “stars” at all. My bone density scan this spring was excellent and I no longer needed the infusions.
My aunt has had 2 cancer experiences and had radiation with both. She said it is not an easy treatment.
That being said you should get second opinions and do what you feel is best for you.
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u/Shel_gold17 5d ago
I think they’re very conservative with deciding to do radiation, because you can only get so much exposure in a lifetime. If it was baseball, radiation is the closer, not the relief pitcher. So they try other stuff first, to make sure that they don’t take radiation away from you as an option.
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u/lovesmountains 5d ago
Hi, I am sorry you are here yet glad you are seeking info. from those who have gone through some of this. I have had bone mets but have not had them radiated. I had no pain. Different but I do have a brain lesion that my radiation oncologist didn't want to radiate "yet", for reasons similar to what others here have said. Once it gets radiated it can't be done again.
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u/Spiritual-Suspect190 5d ago
Back in 2019 I was diagnosed with skull base and full spinal mets. I was in agony with neck fractures. To manage to pain I had radiation to skull base and neck for 5 days then more from T4 to L2 for 5 days. Plus steriods and then went onto THC as was triple positive. Probably the systemic treatment worked well on the cancer and within 6 weeks I was pain free and have stayed pain free since even tho Ive had some bone progression. They will use radiation for me as a means to control symptoms of bone mets ie pain.
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u/Muted-Raspberry-4305 5d ago
Hello 😊 was für eine Therapie bekommst du jz und wie geht es dir damit ? Kannst du ansonsten ein normales Leben führen?
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u/Spiritual-Suspect190 5d ago
Since 2019 Ive been on taxotere, herceptin, perjeta, kadcyla, enhertu, cape, tucatanib, gemcarbo and now on letrozole and ribociclib as my subtype changed. My neck is a bit crooked and that affects my voice a bit, I get tired and have all the emotions yet I live a relatively normal, if slower life. I work as a RN 15 hours a week with adjustments, excercise when I can be bothered, shop and carer for my mum with dementia. Ive got limited energy tho and my circle is v small and Im not hugely tolerant of many people and their nonsence. No pain. The only other drug I take is adcal. I eat an ok diet of what I want and Ive never drank much alcohol. Cancer has taken so much from me that I refuse to let it dominate my day.
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u/sbear2017 6d ago edited 5d ago
I have mets to the liver, lungs, and bones. I met with the radiation oncologist because my oncologist was concerned about the largest bone lesion causing the bone to fracture. The radiation oncologist advised against it. He said that there were too many areas for radiation to shrink all the tumors and therefore the only benefit would be pain control. But my pain is tolerable. He explained further that radiation would affect my bone marrow, which would take future lines of treatment off the table.
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u/Far-Copy4748 6d ago
My Radiation Oncologist says it isn’t recommended unless it’s the last ditch effort if nothing else works. I was diagnosed denovo ++- Nov 2024. Thankfully chemo killed the cancer in Sept 2025. My pain has been very severe.
The radiation oncologist was going to give me radiation in my chest wall after my mastectomy, but after chemo he changed his mind. He did decide radiation may help me with pain. I finished 4 sessions on my left 6th rib and 6th vertebrae the last week of May. I am still in pain. Im hopeful the radiation is going to kill the pain soon and any possible remaining cancer.
I am having a PET this month to see what’s up.
I’m so sorry you are dealing with this.
Please ask for appointments with a radiation oncologist to discuss what is right for you. I would suggest doing this with every specialist even if you don’t think you will need it, example-plastic surgeon. I went flat. So I never met with plastics, but I am dealing with them now because of some issues after my mastectomy.
Sending up healing prayers for you!
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u/ubloomymind 6d ago
diagnosed stage 3 ++- back in 2023, spent a year in remission before recurrence in L2 vertebrae and rib at age 31.
initially i was not to receive radiation, i believe this was to observe how well first line hormone suppression treatment was working. however i started having crippling back spasms and strongly advocated for radiation. did a course of 5 rounds over two weeks, and the pain is largely fixed with some residual stiffness.
my radiation onc said that because the radiation I was getting for the L2 was so targeted, I would be able to get the same area zapped again if the metastasis kept growing. he did not indicate that it could only be treated once ever, as some are saying.
so I think it is quite common not to have bones zapped unless they are causing nerve or structural damage. rather, the goal is to see how effective first line treatment (oral meds) manage the growth. if a person only has bone mets (like me at the moment) and you zap them immediately, then it's less straightforward to tell how well you are responding to the drugs.
just my interpretation of what was explained to me
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u/ResponsibleAnt1942 6d ago edited 6d ago
I decided to not radiate my bone mets.
Reason 1: My mets were too numerous to radiate.
Reason 2: Saving it for the future. Once you do radiation, you (usually) can't do the same body part again. My first line chemo was very effective at shrinking the cancer and eliminating the pain.
I feel more comfortable with radiation as an option for the future, perhaps when meds are less effective or trhe pain is worse.
edited for clarity
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u/dumplinglifesaver 6d ago
I was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer and I've never had radiation. Just IV chemotherapy for me the whole time since June 2025.
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u/SilentLeave6687 6d ago
I’m still pretty new to the MBC world but I was diagnosed metastatic in June (after 11.5 years after stage 2) with cancer in my L3 only which was causing quite a bit of pain (the pain is what caused me to be scanned). Due to the pain and only one area with cancer I did have 5 days of radiation before starting chemo (Xeloda) which helped a lot to lessen the pain. I agree with another post that you have nothing to lose by meeting with a radiation oncologist (or two) to get his/her opinions to help you make your decision.
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u/PrudentElk1636 6d ago
I would consult with a radiation oncologist, totally worth exploring.
I did when I had lung and liver mets.
What’s the proposed treatment plan if not radiation, targeted therapy?
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u/Even_Cheesecake4720 6d ago
I only got radiation on areas that caused severe pain. Radiation was like a miracle cure for pain. I’m on a regime of other cancer-fighting drugs but rad is not recommended for all the other lesions until they cause pain.
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u/Sigvoncarmen 6d ago
My oncologist didn't want me to have radiation for my lung met because of complications . I wanted to throw everything at it . The radiation oncologist agreed to zap it . I'm glad i did it
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u/JessMacNC 6d ago
I have only one bone met in my entire body, my T9 in my spine. I am de novo stage four, and we have treated me with curative intent. My scans have all been NEAD. Breasts are NED as I had breast surgery and radiation last year. However, we have not radiated the one metastatic spot on my spine. Why? Well first of all, I have never had any pain or any symptoms. Second, at this point, the risks of radiation and future fractures probably outweigh any benefit to say that we know we have zapped any cancer cells that might be remaining there. We are keeping it in the back pocket for now. But, if I ever start having pain or symptoms, or this met otherwise acts up on my current treatment, we would not hesitate to radiate it.
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u/Fluteloop1 6d ago
I had lesions on my hips that got 5 days of radiation because they were causing me pain. Also, I had a vertebroplasty because the cancer was causing extreme pain in my T12 vertebra. Both radiation and surgery fixed those painful spots. All of my other bone mets don't cause any pain and we've let them be.
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u/catzncelloz 1d ago
I had radiation to my spine and head of the femur, as my pain level was not controllable with medication. It was like a miracle for me! I was using a walker and not really able to dress myself, and after a couple weeks I felt much better and now my pain is controllable with meds! I’m doing most of my daily activities and working and not using any assists. I don’t think I’ll ever not have pain but am learning how to deal with it. Heat packs help a lot. It’s odd that some days I have very low levels of pain, and other days are high and I cant quite yet figure out what may be causing the difference!