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MyCancerPain.org Launched as Resource for Patients with Painful Bone Metastases

Posted on: Tuesday, 16 December 2008, 07:00 CST

TIRAT CARMEL, Israel, December 16 /PRNewswire/ -- InSightec Ltd. announced today that cancer patients suffering pain caused by tumors that have spread to their bones have a new online resource for information about their condition. The website, http://www.MyCancerPain.org, provides background on bone metastases, as well as detailed information about a clinical trial being conducted at eleven centers in the U.S., Canada and Israel to evaluate whether treatment with the noninvasive, ionized radiation-free ExAblate(R) Magnetic Resonance-guided Focused Ultrasound (MRgFUS) system can safely and effectively alleviate this pain.

"As modern oncology treatments have helped patients live longer with their disease, growing numbers of patients are living with the side effects of late-stage cancer, including bone pain," said Andre A. Konski, MD, MBA, MA, Director of Radiation Oncology Clinical Research and Chief Medical Officer at Fox Chase Cancer Center. "As physicians, our goal is not only to treat disease, but to help improve the quality of our patients' lives. We look forward to enrolling additional patients into this study in hopes of showing that this treatment may provide safe and effective pain relief for this condition. We encourage patients with bone metastases and their families to gather information on palliative treatments, including clinical trials such as this one, and discuss their options with their physicians."

Bone pain is the most common source of pain in patients suffering from metastatic cancer. Almost all patients with metastatic prostate cancer have skeletal metastases and 90% of patients with progressive breast cancer develop these painful and debilitating lesions.

Current pain treatments consist of systemic therapy (analgesics, chemotherapy, hormonal therapy and bisphosphonates) and local treatments (radiation, surgery and more recently, Radio Frequency Ablation (RFA)).

With ExAblate(R), the physician uses the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) with registered CT images to visualize the patient's anatomy and then aims focused ultrasound waves at the tumor to relieve the pain. The MRI allows the physician to monitor and continuously adjust the treatment in real time. The patient is consciously sedated to alleviate pain and minimize motion. Due to the high acoustic absorption and low thermal conductivity of the bone cortex, it is possible to use a low level of energy and still achieve a localized heating effect that will relieve the pain while minimizing damage to adjacent tissue.

Participating sites include Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston, Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, Houston Methodist in Houston, Texas, SightLine Medical Center, Houston, Texas, the Lahey Clinic in Burlington, Mass., the University of California, Los Angeles Medical Center in Los Angeles, Calif., the University of California, San Diego Medical Center in San Diego, Calif., Weill Cornell Medical College in New York, University Health Network in Toronto, and Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer, Israel.

Additional information on the trial, including contact information for the clinical coordinators at each of the sites, can also be viewed at the National Institutes of Health's website, http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00656305?term=bone+metastases+insig htec&rank=1.

(Due to the length of this URL, it may be necessary to copy and paste this hyperlink into your Internet browser's URL address field. Remove the space if one exists.)

SOURCE InSightec Ltd

Source: PR Newswire

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