Bone metastases occur when malignant cancer cells from a primary tumor spread through the body and relocate to the bone. Once cancer has spread to other organs it is categorized as Stage 4.
Bone is the third most common site to which cancer metastasizes after lung and liver. Almost all patients with metastatic (spreading) prostate cancer and 90% of those with advanced breast cancer suffer from bone metastases.
Bone metastases are the most common cause of cancer pain.
Current treatment options for pain control consist of systemic therapy (analgesics, chemotherapy, hormonal therapy and bisphosphonates) and local treatments (radiation, surgery).
Relieving cancer pain caused by bone metastases
Metastatic tumors is cancer that has spread from the part of the body where it started (primary tumor site) to other parts of the body. Bone is the third most common site of metastatic disease, after the lung and liver.
One of the most common kinds of cancer pain is from tumors that have spread to the bone, these are called bone metastases.
If you or your loved ones are suffering pain caused by cancer that has spread to the bones, you should not lose hope.
The FDA has approved a clinical research trial that examines a non-invasive treatment to relieve pain caused by painful bone metastases or multiple myeloma using Magnetic Resonance guided Focused Ultrasound Therapy (MRgFUS).
The benefits of this treatment are that it′s non-invasive, only one treatment is usually required and there is no radiation.
There is no cost for participating in the study. Promising results from other studies indicate that this treatment may be an effective therapy for reducing cancer pain.
