Introduction

Abstract

Cancer remains the second most common cause of death in the United States, accounting for nearly 1 of every 4 deaths.1http://www.cancer.org/research/cancerfactsfigures/cancerfactsfigures/cancer-facts-and-figures-2010Google Scholar Although primary bone tumors, benign or malignant, are uncommon, osseous metastatic disease is a prevalent problem in oncology patients. Over the past decade, there has been remarkable growth in the use of image-guided oncologic interventions in the musculoskeletal system. This volume contains 9 papers that describe the applications of image-guided musculoskeletal interventions in the oncology population. The goal was to illustrate the critical role that interventional radiologists can play in the diagnosis, treatment, and palliation of patients with bone and soft tissue neoplasms. Tissue is always the issue for oncology patients and biopsy of the musculoskeletal system can present some unique challenges, which are discussed in the first paper. Radiofrequency ablation has largely supplanted surgery for the treatment of osteoid osteoma and the use of this technique in benign bone tumors is discussed in the second paper. The third and fourth papers review interventional radiology procedures that are important adjuncts to either definitive or palliative surgery. The next 4 papers focus on percutaneous, image-guided interventions that can be used to palliate painful bone metastases and include a primer on the use of advanced ablation techniques for the protection of critical structures from collateral damage. Last, to highlight the latest advances in technology in bone ablation, magnetic resonance imaging–guided laser ablation with real-time temperature monitoring will be examined. I thank all of the authors for their time, efforts, and contributions to this issue of Techniques in Vascular and Interventional Radiology. We hope the “pearls and potpourri” contained in each article will prove useful in developing or enhancing your practice in musculoskeletal interventions.