Radium-223 dichloride for the treatment of metastatic prostate cancer.

Introduction: Bone metastases are a frequent complication of many malignancies and are particularly common in metastatic prostate cancer, where they are associated with a high degree of morbidity. Until recently, treatments relied on palliative bone targeting measures with no proven survival-prolonging action or on systemic agents with general anti-prostate cancer activity but significant toxicities. Radium-223 dichloride is a bone-seeking, α-emitting, radionuclide that has recently been licensed in the US and Europe for the treatment of men with castration-resistant prostate cancer, bone metastases and no known visceral metastases.