Ethanol injection helps manage bone metastasis in thyroid cancer patientsJune 04, 2007Percutaneous ethanol injection is valuable addition in managing care of patients, detail Japanese researchers at SNM's 54th Annual Meeting June 2-6 in Washington, D.C. WASHINGTON, D.C.-Percutaneous ethanol injection (PEI)-an injection of ethanol (alcohol) through the skin directly into a bone tumor to kill cancer cells-may be a valuable ancillary treatment for thyroid cancer patients whose cancer has spread to the bone. Japanese researchers announced these findings during the 54th Annual Meeting of SNM, the world's largest society for molecular imaging and nuclear medicine. "PEI may be a valuable adjunctive or secondary treatment to radioiodine therapy, and it may contribute to better management of thyroid cancer patients with bone metastasis," said Kunihiro Nakada, clinical assistant professor in the Department of Radiology at Hokkaido University Hospital and the hospital chief in the Department of Radiology at LSI Sapporo Clinic, both in Japan. Reports indicate that this year about 33,550 new cases of thyroid cancer will be diagnosed in the United States, and of those, more than 25,000 will occur in women. Thyroid cancer is a disease in which cancer (malignant) cells are found in the tissues of the thyroid gland. The thyroid gland, located at the base of the throat, makes important hormones that help the body function normally. Cancer can spread beyond that site and invade other parts of the body (metastasis), and thyroid cancer is often listed among the top most common causes of metastatic bone lesions. The primary treatment for patients with thyroid cancer is surgery, which is followed by thyroid hormone therapy. Radioactive iodine may be used to destroy thyroid cancer cells after surgical removal of the thyroid gland. "Although thyroid cancer generally has a favorable prognosis, bone metastasis can be hard to be eradicate," said Nakada. "Although radioiodine therapy and/or surgery are valuable therapeutic strategies, management of bone metastasis has been challenging since it is likely that bone metastasis will show resistance to radioiodine therapy or that a tumor cannot be surgically removed," he explained. "Our study is a therapeutic approach to treat metastatic bone tumor from thyroid cancer by injecting absolute ethanol directly into the tumor," explained Nakada. "Absolute ethanol induces direct necrosis (cell death) of the tissue in the area where it is distributed. Therefore, if absolute ethanol is selectively injected into a malignant tumor, selective destruction of the tumor may be expected," he added. In their study, 12 patients with radioiodine-ineffective bone metastasis from thyroid cancer underwent PEI. More than 50 percent reduction in tumor volume was achieved in all. "PEI appears effective in terms of palliation (control) of symptoms (such as pain) and tumor size reduction and does not induce significant systemic side effects," noted Nakada. "In addition, PEI is a feasible treatment for radioiodine-ineffective tumors and has a potential for improving general performance or quality of life for selected patients," he added. Additional research should be done to optimize treatment, said Nakada, including determining doses of ethanol, number of times PEI sessions should be repeated, how to predict outcome earlier and what other therapeutic options could be better combined with PEI to enhance efficacy. Society of Nuclear Medicine |
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| Related Thyroid Cancer Current Events and Thyroid Cancer News Articles Newly revised guidelines for managing thyroid cancer published in Thyroid journal The American Thyroid Association has released new, revised Management Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of patients with thyroid nodules and thyroid cancer. Study examines complications of thyroid surgery in older patients In a study of patients undergoing thyroid surgery performed by a single surgeon, older adults did not appear to have more complications than younger patients. Thyroid surgery safe for older patients, study finds Thyroid surgery is safe for older patients, say physicians who found only slight differences in rates of complications and hospital readmissions in a multi-year study. Researchers pinpoint a new enemy for tumor-suppressor p53 Researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have identified a protein that marks the tumor suppressor p53 for destruction, providing a potential new avenue for restoring p53 in cancer cells. Vandetanib shows clinical benefit when combined with docetaxel for lung cancer When combined with standard chemotherapy, an international Phase III trial has shown that the oral targeted therapy vandetanib improves progression-free survival for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer. First comprehensive guidelines for managing medullary thyroid carcinoma published in Thyroid journal New guidelines designed to standardize and optimize the diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring of patients with Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma (MTC), an uncommon and challenging form of thyroid cancer, have been developed by the American Thyroid Association. Drug that targets vasculature growth attacks aggressive thyroid cancer A medication that helps stop the growth of new blood vessels has produced dramatic benefits for some patients with aggressive thyroid cancer, research from Mayo Clinic indicates. Metastatic bone disease patients can walk in Lazarus' footsteps Osteoplasty-a highly effective minimally invasive procedure to treat the painful effects of metastatic bone disease by injecting bone cement to support weakened bones-provides immediate and substantial pain relief, often presenting individuals who are suffering terribly with the miraculous so-called "Lazarus effect," according to researchers at the Society of Interventional Radiology's 34th Annual Scientific Meeting. Mayo Clinic Researchers Find Experimental Therapy Turns on Tumor Suppressor Gene in Cancer Cells Researchers at Mayo Clinic have found that the experimental drug they are testing to treat a deadly form of thyroid cancer turns on a powerful tumor suppressor capable of halting cell growth. Few other cancer drugs have this property, they say. Molecular imaging enables earlier, individualized treatment of thyroid cancer In a study to determine the diagnostic value of molecular imaging in nodal staging of patients with thyroid cancer, researchers were able for the first time to accurately distinguish between cancerous cells in regional lymph nodes and normal residual thyroid tissue directly after surgery. More Thyroid Cancer Current Events and Thyroid Cancer News Articles |
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