Aim: The malignant psoas syndrome (MPS) is a rare and complex
cancer-related clinical entity, with a significant impact on cancer
patients' quality of life. The literature describing malignant
infiltration of the psoas muscle as well as its management is limited.
The primary endpoint of the study was the assessment of pain relief in
symptomatic terminal-stage MPS patients. Materials and Methods: Patients
underwent hypofractionated (two- or three-dimensional conformal)
radiotherapy as palliative treatment. A dose of 42.5 Gy in 17 daily
fractions (2.5 Gy/fraction) was prescribed. Pain response was measured
before 3 and 6 months after radiation delivery. Results: Between May
1992 and April 2019, eight patients were treated. The median age was 75
years (range: 59-87 years). All patients had distant metastatic disease
at the time of treatment. We found a significant pain relief (median
duration of response of 105 days) and an improvement in health-related
quality of life. Conclusions: Radiotherapy had a favorable outcome and
can be considered an effective analgesic treatment in case of painful
MPS
