BACKGROUND: Bone metastases are common in lung cancer and are leading to increasing consumption of health care resources. The therapeutic choice for the clinician is extensive, from biphosphonates to percutaneous vertebroplasty. In the absence of official guidelines the management varies from centre to centre. There are very few economic analyses of these patients. METHODS: Study 06-01 of the French Lung Oncology Group is a medico-economic analysis of the management of bone metastases in lung cancer. It is a national, multicentre, observational, epidemiological study. The primary objective is to assess the epidemiology, the management strategies and the costs of bone metastases in lung cancer. The secondary objective is to develop a medico-economic model of the management based on a Markov model in order to evaluate the effectiveness of different therapeutic strategies. EXPECTED RESULTS: The aim of this study is a better understanding of theses patients at a time when few observational studies have been undertaken.