Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32760815›Full record

ArticleClinical and translational radiation oncology2020

Inconsistencies in assessment of pain endpoints in radiotherapy for painful tumors: Analysis of original articles in the Green and Red Journals.

Tetsuo Saito, Naoto Shikama, Atsunori Yorozu, Hikaru Kubota, Kenta Murotani, Kohsei Yamaguchi, Natsuo Oya, Naoki Nakamura

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Clinical and translational radiation oncology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
0.8field-weighted citation impact, top 27% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Palliative radiotherapy for painful non-bone-metastasis tumors.International journal of clinical oncology · 2025
    Review
  3. Palliative radiotherapy for painful lymph node metastases.Radiation oncology (London, England) · 2021
    Observational
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 6 institutions in 1 country.

Tetsuo SaitoDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Kumamoto University Hospital, Kumamoto, Japan.
Naoto ShikamaDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Juntendo University, Tokyo, Japan.
Atsunori YorozuDepartment of Radiation Oncology, National Hospital Organization Tokyo Medical Center, Tokyo, Japan.
Hikaru KubotaDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Kobe University Hospital, Hyogo, Japan.
Kenta MurotaniBiostatistics Center, Graduate School of Medicine, Kurume University, Fukuoka, Japan.
Kohsei YamaguchiDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Kumamoto University Hospital, Kumamoto, Japan.
Natsuo OyaDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Kumamoto University Hospital, Kumamoto, Japan.
Naoki NakamuraDepartment of Radiology, St. Marianna University Hospital, Kawasaki, Japan.
Kumamoto University Hospital · JPJuntendo University · JPKobe University Hospital · JPKurume University · JPSt. Marianna University School of Medicine · JPTokyo Medical Center · JP

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

background and purposeConsistent assessment of the pain response is essential for adequately comparing treatment efficacy between studies. We studied the assessment of pain endpoints in radiotherapy for painful bone metastases (PBMs) and painful non-bone-metastasis tumors (PNTs). MATERIAL AND

methodsWe performed a literature search in the Green (Radiotherapy and Oncology) and Red (International Journal of Radiation Oncology * Biology * Physics) Journals for full-length original articles published between 2009 and 2018. We only included articles that assessed palliation of tumor-related pain after radiotherapy. The data obtained included the definitions of pain response and assessment of non-index pain (pain other than that related to the irradiated tumors).

resultsAmong the 1812 articles identified using the journals' search function, 60 were included in the analysis. Thirty percent of the PBM articles and approximately half of the PNT articles did not report on analgesic use. Among the prospective studies, 68% of the articles on PBMs and 10% of the articles on PNTs used the International Consensus Endpoint. The PBM articles published in 2014-2018 utilized the International Consensus Endpoint more frequently than those published in 2009-2013 (

conclusionsAfter the initial publication of the International Consensus Endpoint, the frequency of its use appears to have risen in PBM research; however, its use in PNT studies has been considerably limited. The International Consensus Endpoint should be consistently utilized in future studies on radiotherapy for painful tumors. Since none of the journal articles had investigated non-index pain, this issue may also needs to be addressed.

Indexed as

AnalgesicsPain endpointPainful tumorsPain responsePalliative radiotherapyPBM, painful bone metastasisPNT, painful non-bone-metastasis tumor

Identifiers

PMID32760815
PMCPMC7393456
OpenAlexW3045312867

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.