Health & Medicine
New MRIgFU Ablation Therapy Lowers Pain in 67 Percent Patients with Bone Tumors
Benita Matilda
First Posted: Jun 03, 2013 09:09 AM EDT
For people suffering with cancer, the spread of cancer to the bones can be very painful, and most often leads to various other problems. Radiation therapy is used to ease pain by shrinking a tumor. However, the procedure does not reach all parts of the body.
In such cases, where radiation therapy fails to offer good results, or can't be used again, a new therapy is being offered by researchers at Jefferson's Kimmel Cancer Center.
According to the study, magnetic resonance image-guided focused ultrasound' (MRIgFU) ablation therapy considerably lowered the pain in 67 percent of patients who received the treatment. The finding was reported by Mark Hurwitz, M.D., Director of Thermal Oncology for the Department of Radiation Oncology at Thomas Jefferson University and Hospital.
Researchers have come up with a new device called ExAblate that uses multiple small ultrasound beams designed to converge on a tumor within the bone, heat it and finally destroy it.
According to Dr. Hurwitz, pain is a common and most often, devastating symptom when cancer spreads to the bones. Researchers hope to improve the lives of victims with the second new therapy. A number of cancers spread to the bones, and just a considerable proportion of patients survive for years with metastases, which has an impact on the person's quality of life.
In October 2012, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved ExAblate as a second-line therapy for palliation of painful metastatic bone tumors. It has also been approved to treat uterine fibroids. Results from ExAblate were similar to that of radiotherapy.
"It is non-invasive and provides more detailed anatomic information so that we can visualize the complete beam path to make sure that critical structures such as vessels and nerves are not in the way," Dr. Hurwitz says. "We are also able to monitor the temperature in the tumor as well as in nearby normal tissues so that we do not inadvertently heat normal organs and tissues."
Results of the clinical trial will be presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).
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First Posted: Jun 03, 2013 09:09 AM EDT
For people suffering with cancer, the spread of cancer to the bones can be very painful, and most often leads to various other problems. Radiation therapy is used to ease pain by shrinking a tumor. However, the procedure does not reach all parts of the body.
In such cases, where radiation therapy fails to offer good results, or can't be used again, a new therapy is being offered by researchers at Jefferson's Kimmel Cancer Center.
According to the study, magnetic resonance image-guided focused ultrasound' (MRIgFU) ablation therapy considerably lowered the pain in 67 percent of patients who received the treatment. The finding was reported by Mark Hurwitz, M.D., Director of Thermal Oncology for the Department of Radiation Oncology at Thomas Jefferson University and Hospital.
Researchers have come up with a new device called ExAblate that uses multiple small ultrasound beams designed to converge on a tumor within the bone, heat it and finally destroy it.
According to Dr. Hurwitz, pain is a common and most often, devastating symptom when cancer spreads to the bones. Researchers hope to improve the lives of victims with the second new therapy. A number of cancers spread to the bones, and just a considerable proportion of patients survive for years with metastases, which has an impact on the person's quality of life.
In October 2012, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved ExAblate as a second-line therapy for palliation of painful metastatic bone tumors. It has also been approved to treat uterine fibroids. Results from ExAblate were similar to that of radiotherapy.
"It is non-invasive and provides more detailed anatomic information so that we can visualize the complete beam path to make sure that critical structures such as vessels and nerves are not in the way," Dr. Hurwitz says. "We are also able to monitor the temperature in the tumor as well as in nearby normal tissues so that we do not inadvertently heat normal organs and tissues."
Results of the clinical trial will be presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone