Dr. Sartor on Distinguishing Between Symptomatic and Asymptomatic Patients

Oliver Sartor, MD, board professor, cancer research, Tulane University, discusses the distinction between symptomatic and asymptomatic patients with bone metastases from prostate cancer.

The FDA indication for radium-223 states that patients should have symptomatic disease, though Sartor says he is unsure of the true importance of this. As pain tolerance varies, Sartor says, he does not factor it into his decision — he is more likely to consider the burden of bony disease.