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High-Intensity Focussed Ultrasound and Radio-Frequency Ablation for Bone Metastasis Treatment

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Bone Metastases

Part of the book series: Cancer Metastasis - Biology and Treatment ((CMBT,volume 21))

Abstract

Bone is one of the most common target organs for cancer metastases which can frequently result in fractured or cracked bones and spinal cord compression. Here we review recent information regarding the use of high-intensity focussed ultrasound (HIFU) and other forms of thermal ablation for the pain palliation of bone metastases. High-intensity focussed ultrasound is a non-invasive and effective method for pain palliation and does not have cumulative toxicity effects when used. Similarly, radiofrequency-ablation effectively treats bone metastasis pain but is limited to the placement of hardware for radiofrequency targeting. The effectiveness of thermally ablative techniques is generally limited by the maximum volume that can be ablated and the precision of image-guidance, and it has been concluded that ablative techniques may produce synergistic effects if used in conjunction with standard forms of care. Included is a discussion of the development of HIFU, its mechanism of operation, recent clinical studies using image-guided HIFU, the limitations of HIFU, and a comparison to other ablative techniques such as radiofrequency ablation and cryotherapy. These innovative technologies are reaching clinical adoption as new methods for the treatment of bony metastases.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Physical Sciences, Sunnybrook Research Institute, 2075 Bayview Avenue, Toronto, ON, M4N 3M5, Canada

    Sheliza Halani, Jennifer Coccagna, Kullervo Hynynen & Gregory J. Czarnota

  2. Department of Radiation Oncology, Odette Cancer Centre, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Sheliza Halani, Jennifer Coccagna, Edward Chow & Gregory J. Czarnota

  3. Evaluative Clinical Sciences, Sunnybrook Research Institute, 2075 Bayview Avenue, Toronto, ON, M4N 3M5, Canada

    Edward Chow

  4. Department of Radiation Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Edward Chow & Gregory J. Czarnota

  5. Department of Medical Biophysics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Kullervo Hynynen & Gregory J. Czarnota

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  1. Sheliza Halani
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  2. Jennifer Coccagna
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  3. Edward Chow
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  4. Kullervo Hynynen
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  5. Gregory J. Czarnota
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Correspondence to Gregory J. Czarnota .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Radiation Oncology, Bank of Cyprus Oncology Centre, Nicosia, Cyprus

    Vassilios Vassiliou

  2. Dept. Radiation Oncology, University of Toronto Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Edward Chow

  3. Dept. Radiation Oncology, University of Patras Medical School, Patras, Greece

    Dimitrios Kardamakis

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Halani, S., Coccagna, J., Chow, E., Hynynen, K., Czarnota, G.J. (2014). High-Intensity Focussed Ultrasound and Radio-Frequency Ablation for Bone Metastasis Treatment. In: Vassiliou, V., Chow, E., Kardamakis, D. (eds) Bone Metastases. Cancer Metastasis - Biology and Treatment, vol 21. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7569-5_14

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