Cancer pain treatment with radiofrequency ablation

METASTATIC BONE DISEASE AND CANCER PAIN

Metastatic bone disease occurs when cancer metastasizes or moves into surrounding bone. Bone is invaded in 60-80% of patients with metastatic disease,¹ most frequently among patients with primary tumours of the breast, prostate, and lung.² The spine and pelvis are most commonly affected by bone tumours, but it’s possible for bone tumours to invade all areas of the body.³

Cancer that has moved to the surrounding bone can be extremely painful—making every day even more challenging. Metastatic bone disease can further affect quality of life by producing complications such as fractures and decreased mobility,⁴ along with mood changes such as depression and anxiety.⁵

TREATING CANCER PAIN WITH RADIOFREQUENCY ABLATION

Your pain may be worse if you have failed or are not a candidate for conventional cancer therapies such as opioids, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy.⁷ If this sounds like you, you may be a candidate for radiofrequency (RF) ablation, a minimally invasive procedure designed to help treat cancer pain. 

RF ablation may be a treatment option for you:

• When conventional treatments are considered ineffective or too slow acting⁷ , for example when metastases have become radiotherapy resistant⁷
• When conventional treatments cause unacceptable side affects⁷
• When you are not (or no longer) eligible for conventional treatment
• As a complementary treatment to radiotherapy. Research has shown that a combination of radio frequency ablation (RFA) and radiotherapy (RT) in 53.3% of cases lead to a complete decrease in pain, as opposed to 16.6% with radiotherapy alone.⁸

HOW TREATMENT WORKS

RF ablation uses alternating, low power current to generate heat during the procedure. The heat is delivered by a probe to the tumour to intentionally dry out and kill cancerous cells. OsteoCool™ RF ablation, a Medtronic RF ablation treatment, allows your doctor to deliver the ablation energy to the precise size and location of your tumour. During the procedure, pumped water circulates through the probes to control the temperature and help reduce damage to the surrounding healthy tissue.

KNOW YOUR OPTIONS AND TAKE THE NEXT STEP

If you’re living with cancer pain, you may think it is a natural part of the disease or its treatment and is something that must be endured. You may have decided that side effects from pain medications must be tolerated in exchange for pain control. But managing pain is possible.

Medtronic offers radiofrequency ablation, in addition to other therapies, to help treat cancer pain — so you can do more of the everyday things that make life special.