Objective      To investigate the medical therapy strategy on vertebral metastasis from small cell lung cancer (SCLC).       Methods      Fifty-six patients (41 males

15 females) with vertebral metastases from SCLC from October 2010 to October 2012 were retrospectively evaluated. According to therapeutic methods

they were randomly divided into 3 groups

chemotherapy (

n

=18) group

chemotherapy plus bisphosphonates (

n

=22) group

and chemoradiotherapy plus bisphosphonates (

n

=16) group.

Pain relief

spinal cord classification

pathologic fractures

and adverse effect were compared among the groups.       Results      The follow-up lasted 3-24 months

median 9 months. Patients in both the chemotherapy plus bisphosphonates group and the chemoradiotherapy plus bisphosphonates group gained significant pain relief after treatment (

P

<

0.05). The degree of pain relief in the chemoradiotherapy plus bisphosphonates group was significantly higher than that in the chemotherapy group (

P

<

0.05). The incidence of pathological vertebral fractures in the chemoradiotherapy plus bisphosphonates group (6.25%) was significantly lower than that in the chemotherapy group (38.89%) (

P

<

0.05).       Conclusion      Chemoradiotherapy combined with bisphosphonates treatment can significantly relieve pain caused by vertebral metastases from SCLC

and may prevent or delay the occurrence of pathological vertebral fractures.