Focused Ultrasound Therapy
Focused ultrasound is a rapidly evolving, noninvasive, therapeutic technology with the potential to improve the quality of life and decrease the cost of care for patients with multiple myeloma. This novel technology focuses beams of ultrasonic energy precisely and accurately on targets deep in the body without damaging surrounding normal tissue.
How it Works
Where the beams converge, focused ultrasound produces precise ablation (thermal destruction of tissue) enabling metastatic lesions from multiple myeloma to be treated without surgery. Multiple myeloma is a disease in the bone marrow, and the use of focused ultrasound is aimed at treating the metastatic lesions that typically impact the weight bearing bones or in treating the innervation to these lesions, which can be very painful.
Advantages
The primary options for treatment of metastatic disease from multiple myeloma include surgical resection.
For certain patients, focused ultrasound could provide a noninvasive alternative to surgery with less risk of complications – such as surgical wound healing or infection – at a lower cost. It does not impact the neighboring, normal tissue and is repeatable, if necessary.
Clinical Trials
There have been studies on bone lesions that have included patients with metastatic multiple myeloma lesions in their bones.
For a full list of clinical trials on multiple myeloma, please see here.
See here for a list of treatment sites* >
See here for a list of clinical trials sites* >
See here for a list of laboratory research sites* >
Regulatory Approval and Reimbursement
Focused ultrasound for metastatic lesions to the bone is typically covered by most insurance companies. As bone metastatic lesions from multiple myeloma are less common, it is wise to check with your specific insurance company to see if they will pay for this care.
Notable Papers
Barile A, Arrigoni F, Zugaro L, Zappia M, Cazzato RL, Garnon J, Ramamurthy N, Brunese L, Gangi A, Masciocchi C. Minimally invasive treatments of painful bone lesions: state of the art. Med Oncol. 2017 Apr;34(4):53. doi: 10.1007/s12032-017-0909-2. Epub 2017 Feb 24.
Anzidei M, Napoli A, Sacconi B, Boni F, Noce V, Di Martino M, Saba L, Catalano C. Magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound for the treatment of painful bone metastases: role of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and dynamic contrast enhanced (DCE) MRI in the assessment of clinical outcome. Radiol Med. 2016 Dec;121(12):905-915. Epub 2016 Aug 27.
Chan M, Dennis K, Huang Y, Mougenot C, Chow E, DeAngelis C, Coccagna J, Sahgal A, Hynynen K, Czarnota G, Chu W. Magnetic Resonance-Guided High-Intensity- Focused Ultrasound for Palliation of Painful Skeletal Metastases: A Pilot Study. Technol Cancer Res Treat. 2016 Aug 1. pii: 1533034616658576.
Orgera G1, Monfardini L, Della Vigna P, Zhang L, Bonomo G, Arnone P, Padrenostro M, Orsi F. High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) in patients with solid malignancies: evaluation of feasibility, local tumour response and clinical results. Radiol Med. 2011 Aug;116(5):734-48. doi: 10.1007/s11547-011-0634-4. Epub 2011 Feb 1.
Click here for additional references from PubMed.*
*These links are based on the broader list of bone metastatic disease, as many of these also refer to care for multiple myeloma patients with bone metastases.
