Loading Dose or Standard Dose of Intravenous Ibandronate in Treating Patients With Lung Cancer and Skeletal Metastasis

Inclusion Criteria: * Written informed consent * Age ≥ 18 years * Histological or cytological evidence of lung cancer * Presence of bone metastases documented on bone X-ray, bone ECT, CT scan or MRI scan * Mean pain score ≥ 4 during 3-day baseline period on the WORSE pain scale of the VAS * Patients must be on a stable dose of analgesics over the 3-day baseline period (maximum 15% variation is allowed) * ECOG Performance status of 0-3 (patients with PS of 3 must have their score based on bone pain, not underlying neoplastic disease) * Adequate renal function: creatinine clearance ≥ 50 ml/min (cockroft formula) and serum creatinine ≤ 2.0mg/dl (168 µmol/L); ALT or AST within 2 times the upper limit of the normal range Exclusion Criteria: * Patients with an uncontrolled infection * Hypocalcemia * Patients who have received a bisphosphonate within 3 weeks of the start of the Baseline period or who are currently receiving another bisphosphonate * Patients with known hypersensitivity to any of the components of ibandronic acid * Patients who are pregnant or lactating * Radiotherapy to bone within the 28 days prior inclusion or during the trial duration * Patient who are currently treated with any other investigational therapy or have received it within 30 days of the first schedule day of dosing