A Pivotal Study to Evaluate the Effectiveness and Safety of ExAblate (Magnetic Resonance-guided Focused Ultrasound Surgery) Treatment of Metastatic and Multiple Myeloma Bone Tumors for the Palliation of Pain in Patients Who Are Not Candidates for Radiation Therapy
Bone is the third most common organ involved by metastatic disease behind lung and liver
[7]. In breast cancer, bone is the second most common site of metastatic spread, and
approximately 85% of patients dying of breast cancer have bone metastasis. Breast and
prostate cancer metastasize to bone most frequently, which reflects the high incidence of
both these tumors, as well as their prolonged clinical courses.
The increasing longevity of the population coupled with better therapeutic management of
cancer patients contributes to the high incidence and prevalence of metastatic bone lesions.
Pain from bone metastases is the most common cause of cancer pain and as more patients are
living with bone metastases, improving their quality of life becomes a major challenge. In
patients who die from breast, prostate, and lung cancer, autopsy studies have shown that up
to 85% have evidence of bone metastases at the time of death [7-9].
Current treatments for patients with bone metastases are primarily palliative and include
localized therapies [10], systemic therapies (chemotherapy, hormonal therapy,
radiopharmaceutical, and bisphosphonates), and analgesics (opioids and non-steroidal
anti-inflammatory drugs). Recently, radiofrequency ablation has been tested as a treatment
option for bone metastases [11]. The main goals of these treatments are improvement of
quality of life and functional level. These goals can be further described:
1. Pain relief
2. Preservation and restoration of function
3. Local tumor control
4. Skeletal stabilization
Treatment with external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) is the standard of care for patients
with localized bone pain, and results in the palliation of pain in the majority of these
patients. More than 66% of patients with a limited number of well-localized bony metastases
can be treated effectively by external-beam irradiation. However, approximately 30% of
patients treated with radiation therapy do not experience pain relief [8, 12-16].
Furthermore, there is an increased risk of pathologic fracture in the peri-irradiation
period due to an induced hyperemic response at the periphery of the tumor. This weakens the
adjacent bone and increases the risk of spontaneous fracture. Adding to this, patients who
have recurrent pain at a site previously irradiated may not be eligible for further
radiation therapy secondary to limitations in normal tissue tolerance. The speed of response
to radiation therapy varies; from the patients that respond most symptomatic bony metastases
begin to respond over the course of 10 to 14 days, 70% of patients experience some pain
relief within 2 weeks of starting therapy and, within 3 months 90% of patients achieve pain
relief.
Patients, who had EBRT and failed to improve, may need to seek other therapies such as radio
frequency ablation, surgical resection, etc., which are less efficient and have higher
treatment related morbidity. Because the ExAblate system is designed to non-invasively
ablate tissue, ExAblate may meet the need of these EBRT failed patients. The ExAblate system
has the potential to achieve the first three of the four above mentioned goals, as well as
changing the treatment limits and resulting morbidity in accordance with the above-mentioned
goals [17]. The palliative effect of ExAblate is achieved by heating the bone periosteum,
thus ablating the sensory origin of the pain.
Based on the FDA approved phase-1 initial study (IDE # G050177 ) results and the results of
the study that was performed outside the United States that the sponsor has done, palliation
effects are significant in terms of mean improvement, the number of treated patients who
reported symptomatic improvement and in their potential durability.
Based on the above ExAblate treatment has a potential to be treatment of choice for
radiation
Interventional
Allocation: Randomized, Endpoint Classification: Safety/Efficacy Study, Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment, Masking: Single Blind (Subject), Primary Purpose: Treatment
Improvement in Pain Scores
Within 3 months of treatment
No
United States: Food and Drug Administration
BM004
NCT00656305
March 2008
September 2012
Name | Location |
---|---|
Stanford University Medical Center | Stanford, California 94305-5408 |
Fox Chase Cancer Center | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19111 |
Brigham and Women's Hospital | Boston, Massachusetts 02115 |
University of California San Diego | La Jolla, California 92093 |
Moffitt Cancer Center | Tampa, Florida 33612 |
University of Virginia Health System | Charlottesville, Virginia 22903 |
Weill Cornell Medical College | New York, New York 10021 |
University MRI & Diagnostic Imaging Centers | Boca Raton, Florida 33431 |