Clinical trial · Observational
Thermal Testing in Bone Pain (TiBoP)
An Exploratory Study to Develop and Evaluate a Simple Bedside Tool for Community Use to Identify Who is Most Likely to Benefit From Palliative Radiotherapy for Cancer Induced Bone Pain: Thermal Testing in Bone Pain (TiBoP)
- Source
- ClinicalTrials.gov
- Retrieved
- Sep 8, 2026
- Layer
- normalized (units and labels harmonized; values unchanged)
- Run
- ING-CLINICALTRIALS-20260908-000001
Summary
Brief summary (as posted)
If cancer spreads to bones it can be very painful, especially when trying to move around. One of the best treatments is radiotherapy, which has to be given in a cancer centre. Even with this treatment, only about half of people will get good pain relief, and that can take up to 6 weeks to work fully. If we know who is unlikely to benefit , then we can explore other forms of pain relief sooner, without having to go through radiotherapy unnecessarily. We have found that there may be a very simple way to identify patients likely to get good pain relief, using a test of changes in temperature sensation over the painful bone. This study will explore whether this simple bedside test can be used in a community setting to identify which patients suffering from cancer induced bone pain will get good pain relief from radiotherapy.
Conditions
Conditions (4)
Free-text conditions as registered, with the CancerIndex entity they were reconciled to and the match type.
| Condition (as posted) | Mapped entity | Match | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cancer Induced Bone Pain | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
| Pain | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
| Secondary Malignant Neoplasm of Bone | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
| Toxicity Due to Radiotherapy | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
Interventions
Interventions (1)
| Intervention | Type | Mapped drug | Match |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clinical biomarker (thermal sensory testing) | Other | — | UNRESOLVED |
Design
Arms and outcomes
Arms (1)
- label
- XRT for Cancer induced bone pain
- description
- Will have community based assessment before and after radiotherapy to assess feasibility of using a clinical biomarker (thermal sensory testing) to predict treatment response
- interventionNames
- Other: Clinical biomarker (thermal sensory testing)
Primary outcomes (1)
- measure
- Sensitivity and specificity of the thermal sensitivity score in CIBP with respect to experiencing a "positive outcome" after XRT
- timeFrame
- 6 weeks
- description
- A positive outcome is defined as: at least 30% reduction in BPI pain at 6 weeks AND no increase in opioid medication use within 6 weeks AND no toxicity from XRT at 2 weeks.
Secondary outcomes (2)
- measure
- Sensitivity and specificity of thermal testing with respect to experiencing a positive outcome
- timeFrame
Eligibility
Eligibility (as posted)
- Sex
- All
- Minimum age
- 18 Years
- Maximum age
- 100 Years
Show eligibility criteria text
Inclusion Criteria: * diagnosis of cancer with pain related to bony disease (pain ≥4/10 on a numerical pain rating scale); * due to receive XRT for CIBP; * outpatient; * age 18-100; * able to complete assessment and give written informed consent. Exclusion Criteria: * • they are confused or suffering from significant psychiatric illness * their condition is unstable or rapidly deteriorating * they have any other medical condition that would confound the objectives of the study * they who would be adversely affected by study participation. This would include those who are unaware of the presence of progressive disease or who would, in the opinion of the medical team, find completion of the study too burdensome * they would be unable to complete the study protocol for any other reason
References
Publications (3)
- BACKGROUNDLaird BJ, Walley J, Murray GD, Clausen E, Colvin LA, Fallon MT. Characterization of cancer-induced bone pain: an exploratory study. Support Care Cancer. 2011 Sep;19(9):1393-401. doi: 10.1007/s00520-010-0961-3. Epub 2010 Aug 1. PMID 20680354
- BACKGROUNDDelaney A, Fleetwood-Walker SM, Colvin LA, Fallon M. Translational medicine: cancer pain mechanisms and management. Br J Anaesth. 2008 Jul;101(1):87-94. doi: 10.1093/bja/aen100. Epub 2008 May 19. PMID 18492671
- RESULTParker RA, Sande TA, Laird B, Hoskin P, Fallon M, Colvin L. Bayesian methods in palliative care research: cancer-induced bone pain. BMJ Support Palliat Care. 2022 May;12(e1):e5-e9. doi: 10.1136/bmjspcare-2019-002160. Epub 2020 Mar 5. PMID 32139358