Treating cancer pain in new ways
OsteoCool™ radiofrequency ablation is a minimally invasive, palliative option for patients with bone tumors in the spine and in peripheral bone. Ablation times vary between 6.5 to 15 minutes per affected area.
Physicians can treat patients with the therapy right away, while other treatments, like radiation therapy, are being planned. Additionally, OsteoCool™ RF ablation does not disrupt systemic therapies and it can be used before, during or after radiation therapy. If conventional cancer therapies are considered ineffective or too slow-acting, or if they cause unacceptable side effects,1 consider addressing your patient's cancer pain with the OsteoCool™ procedure. Together we can treat cancer pain in new ways, so patients can have better quality lives.
Collaboration in treatment
Partnering to elevate the gold standard
Radiation therapy (RT) is the gold standard palliative treatment for patients with bone metastases. But there may be patients who cannot or do not benefit from RT as the only treatment for pain palliation.
Metastatic bone disease pain is multifaceted. While some pain derives from biological sources such as cytokine release, other pain sources are mechanical.2 We’re actively collaborating across specialties to find treatment algorithms that address the needs of patients with bone metastases.
Questions to consider:
- Based on your current protocol, how do you treat patients who have trouble receiving radiation due to pain?
- What are you doing to relieve pain for patients before they begin or during their radiation therapy?
- Thinking about patients experiencing pain in your practice today, who might benefit from adjunctive RFA?
- What measures do you take to treat pathologic fractures in your practice?
Resources
Case discussion
"It's so important to identify new treatment opportunities and provide innovative therapies like OsteoCool™ RF ablation to help us achieve positive outcomes with this patient population. At Duke, we have brought together a multidisciplinary team around spinal metastases management... [and] we've found that we can do much more for these patients than we can independently."
RF ablation: Multidisciplinary case reviews
Discover how interventionalists and oncologists work together to help patients suffering from metastatic bone disease on ViewMedi, a free medical education resource.
Patient testimonial
Cory’s story
Cory's breast cancer metastasized causing unrelenting lower back pain. See how her doctor treated Cory's pain with OsteoCool™ RF ablation.
Learn how the OsteoCool™ ablation procedure affected Cory’s quality of life.
1
Sabharwal T, Katsanos K, Buy X, Gangi A. Image-guided ablation therapy of bone tumors. Semin Ultrasound CT MR. 2009;30(2):78-90.
2
Wallace AN, Greenwood TJ, Jennings JW. Radiofrequency ablation and vertebral augmentation for palliation of painful spinal metastases. J Neurooncol. 2015;124(1):111-118