Image-Guided Musculoskeletal and Spine Oncology Interventions: Ablation, Cementoplasty, and Surgical Stabilization

Primary bone tumors and metastatic disease in the skeleton can cause severe pain, fracture, spinal instability, and neurological complications. These problems can limit mobility and quality of life, and they often require care from several specialties. Image-guided interventions now play an important role in treating selected lesions and managing their effects. Percutaneous thermal ablation, including radiofrequency ablation, cryoablation, and high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU), can target tumor tissue, with HIFU offering a non-invasive option of particular value in treating painful bone metastases.Cementoplasty and vertebral augmentation, including vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty, can help address painful lesions and structural weakness. In the spine and other weight-bearing bones, stabilization procedures may be used with ablation, cement augmentation, surgery, radiotherapy, or systemic treatment. Advances in imaging, procedural planning, and combined techniques, including the growing use of HIFU, are expanding treatment options, while questions remain about patient selection, durability, safety, and the best place for these approaches within multidisciplinary care.This Research Topic aims to strengthen the evidence base for image-guided and minimally invasive treatment of musculoskeletal and spinal tumors. It will examine how clinicians can select patients and lesions for ablation (including HIFU), cementoplasty, vertebral augmentation, and stabilization, and how these procedures can be planned and combined with other therapies. We welcome work on technical developments and treatment strategies, as well as studies that measure outcomes that matter to patients and clinicians. These include pain relief, local tumor control, fracture prevention or management, spinal stability, neurological function, mobility, quality of life, complications, and need for further treatment. Comparative studies and reports from multidisciplinary teams can help clarify where these interventions offer benefit, how risks can be reduced, and which questions need prospective study. By bringing together clinical, technical, and translational perspectives, the topic will support better-informed decisions for patients with primary bone tumors, bone metastases, spinal tumors, or spine metastases.We invite original research, systematic or narrative reviews, clinical studies, and case series that fit the topic. Relevant themes include:– Image-guided radiofrequency ablation, cryoablation, high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU), and other ablation techniques– Cementoplasty, vertebroplasty, kyphoplasty, and other forms of vertebral augmentation– Percutaneous and surgical stabilization of tumor-affected bone and the spine– Combined or sequential procedures, including integration with radiotherapy or systemic treatment– Patient selection, imaging, procedural planning, safety, and multidisciplinary pathways– Clinical outcomes, complications, quality of life, and long-term follow-upSubmissions should clearly describe the patient population, intervention, and outcomes, and should explain the relevance to musculoskeletal or spine oncology. Topic editors: Mehmet Yigit Akgun, Ali Fahir Ozer, Tunc Oktenoglu, Ozkan Ates Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/86667/image-guided-musculoskeletal-and-spine-oncology-interventions-ablation-cementoplasty-and-surgical-stabilization