Breast Cancer Patients May Have a New Treatment Option When Canc...(merican Cancer Society almost 185000 peo...),Health

Date:2/22/2009

merican Cancer Society, almost 185,000 people in the United States -- mainly women -- were diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in 2008. In addition, a study published in the journal Spine showed that, of those patients whose breast cancer metastasizes, almost 75 percent develop spine tumors.

Spinal metastases can cause pain and vertebral collapse. And, due to the proximity of the spinal cord and nerves, those tumors can lead to serious neurological complications. Conventional treatment often occurs in two phases:

1. A surgical procedure (vertebroplasty or kyphoplasty) in which bone cement is injected into the body to stabilize the bone
2. Subsequent external beam radiation therapy (or EBRT) to control tumor growth

The effectiveness of EBRT for spinal metastases is limited because the spinal cord restricts the dose of radiation that can be safely delivered. In addition, EBRT is typically provided in multiple sessions to reduce toxicity to the spinal cord, making treatment inconvenient for the patient.

The therapy investigated by Dr. Keyak and her colleagues would combine the two treatment phases into one procedure by mixing a radioactive compound with the injected cement. A single procedure using this radioactive bone cement would provide structural reinforcement to the bone while simultaneously irradiating the tumor from within (i.e., vertebral brachytherapy). Results of the study showed that a therapeutic dose of radiation would reach the intended bone without undue risk to tissue beyond a certain range (such as the spinal cord).

Once the results are validated, subsequent studies will look at the following:

• Refining the choice of radioisotope(s), amount of activity and geographic distribution of the cement
• Sensitivity of the radiation dose distribution to variations in bone size, density
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SOURCE Orthopaedic Research Society Copyright©2009 PR Newswire. All rights reserved

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