OBJECTIVES Recently, bone-avid radiopharmaceuticals have been shown to have potential benefits for the treatment of widespread bone metastases. Although (177)Lu-triethylene tetramine hexa methylene phosphonic acid (abbreviated as (177)Lu-TTHMP), as an agent for bone pain palliation, has been evaluated in previous studies, there are large discrepancies between the obtained results. In this study...

BACKGROUND: Cure of patients with esophageal cancer has remained rare over the past four decades. The overall five-year survival rate for squamous cell and adenocarcinoma of the esophagus currently is reported as 12% in whites and 8% in blacks. The five-year survival rate for localized disease at initial staging is only 26% for whites and 13% for blacks. With regional involvement, these rates a...

The decision to perform surgical versus nonoperative palliation for unresectable pancreatic cancer is influenced by a number of factors. In most cases, patient symptoms clearly dictate the management. In patients with symptoms of duodenal obstruction at the time of presentation, surgery is the only option. In patients with obstructive jaundice alone, the options for management must be weighed a...

UNLABELLED The clinical picture of bone metastases is manifested by pain and loss of mechanical stability. Standard treatment options for bone metastases include external beam radiotherapy and the use of analgesics. Due to a large number of lesions in many patients, the use of radionuclide therapy with beta emitters may be preferable. Re-186 hydroxyethylidene diphosphonate (Re-186 HEDP) is one ...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the safety and efficacy of high intensity focused ultrasound for palliation of inoperable pancreatic cancer in humans. PATIENTS Eighty-nine patients with advanced pancreatic cancer were treated with high intensity focused ultrasound. There were 4 patients with stage II, 39 patients with stage III, and 46 patients with stage IV disease. The location of the tumors was as f...

BACKGROUND To evaluate the palliative role of radiotherapy (RT) and define the effectiveness of chemotherapy combined with palliative RT (CCRT) in patients with a symptomatic pelvic mass of metastatic colorectal cancer. METHODS From August 1995 to December 2007, 80 patients with a symptomatic pelvic mass of metastatic colorectal cancer were treated with palliative RT at Samsung Medical Center...

BACKGROUND A subset of women with locally advanced breast cancer presented with fungating tumor mass eroding and infiltrating the surrounding breast skin (T4b breast cancers). These patients often have chronic pain, large open wounds, frequent infections, malodorous drainage, social isolation, and general debilitation that present enormous therapeutic challenges. Because of the advanced nature ...