Radiotherapy plus hyperthermia is effective for painful bony metastases—optimal schedule unsettled

We thank van Rhoon and van Holthe for their interests and comments on our article of combined hyperthermia (HT) and radiation therapy (RT) for painful bony metastases (1). In our study, a significant pain improvement and duration of response was demonstrated by HT + RT. We emphasized the complete response (CR) rate at the third month than the accumulated CR rate within 3 months, because the palliative goal for the good performance patients should focus more on long-lasting response (2). Our analysis was indeed limited by small patient size (58 patients). However, timing of preset analysis and the rule of early termination were performed according to protocol and were mandated by the institutional review board and health regulatory authorities for clinical trials.