Abstract
Thermal therapies such as radiofrequency ablation (RFA) are gaining widespread clinical adoption in the local treatment of skeletal metastases. RFA has been shown to successfully destroy tumor cells, yet the impact of RFA on the quality of the surrounding bone has not been well characterized. RFA treatment was performed on femora of rats with bone metastases (osteolytic and osteoblastic) and healthy age matched rats. Histopathology, second harmonic generation imaging and backscatter electron imaging were used to characterize changes in the structure, organic and mineral components of the bone after RFA. RFA treatment was shown to be effective in targeting tumor cells and promoting subsequent new bone formation without impacting the surrounding bone negatively. Mineralization profiles of metastatic models were significantly improved post-RFA treatment with respect to mineral content and homogeneity, suggesting a positive impact of RFA treatment on the quality of cancer involved bone. Evaluating the impact of RFA on bone quality is important in directing the growth of this minimally invasive therapeutic approach with respect to fracture risk assessment, patient selection, and multimodal treatment planning.
Highlights
Skeletal bone metastases occur in one third of all cancer [1] with frequent complications affecting 85 percent of patients [2]
This study aims to quantify the impact of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) on bone quality in both healthy and metastatically involved bone
All the rats injected in this study developed metastases at the presented timelines (Fig 1)
Summary
Skeletal bone metastases occur in one third of all cancer [1] with frequent complications affecting 85 percent of patients [2]. Cancer patients with skeletal metastases exhibiting pain have been treated with RFA [5,6,7]. The goal of this treatment is pain palliation and localized tumor growth control. It is often used in conjunction with cement augmentation procedures [8]. The impact of RFA itself on bone quality is unknown
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