A new study led by a Rhode Island Hospital physician has shown that image-guided radiofrequency ablation, a minimally invasive cancer treatment, can significantly reduce the pain experienced by patients with bone metastases.

The treatment, which can be performed in an outpatient setting, also reduces the need for strong narcotic pain management and improves patients’ frame of mind, the study showed. The results were published online in the journal Cancer.

“It is clear that improved palliative treatments must be identified to address the needs of these great many patients,” said Dr. Damian Dupuy, the principal investigator, director of ablation services at Rhode Island Hospital, and professor of diagnostic imaging at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University.

“RFA is widely available, covered by most insurance, can be performed in a single outpatient session, and often allows patients enhanced interaction with loved ones by reducing use of strong narcotics which can leave them in a medicated state,” Dupuy added. “Also, unlike many other cancer pain management treatments, RFA can be repeated and maintain similar results.”

More than 1 million cancer cases are diagnosed in the United States each year, and 30 to 70 percent of those cancers will eventually metastasize in the bones, often causing intense pain.

The study, conducted under the auspices of the American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN), was sponsored by the National Cancer Institute and involved 55 patients who had a single painful bone metastasis.

RFA uses heat to kill, or ablate, tumor cells, and it is often used to treat liver, kidney and lung cancers. It can also be an alternative for patients who’ve had radiation therapy but can’t tolerate more doses, yet still need help to manage pain.

In the study, each of the participants received computed tomography (CT)-guided RFA of the bone tumor. They evaluated their pain prior to treatment, then daily for two weeks following the procedure, and again at one month and three months after RFA.

The researchers found statistically significant pain reduction at the one and three-month follow-ups for all pain assessment measurements: pain relief, intensity and severity. There was improvement in patients’ moods as well, and there were few adverse effects.

“Despite advances in radiation technology and development of new medical manipulations, too many cancer patients still experience pain associated with their disease,” said Thomas DiPetrillo, clinical director of radiation oncology at Rhode Island Hospital and associate professor of radiation oncology at Brown. “This study demonstrates the palliative benefits of RFA with minimal treatment-related morbidity. Oncologists have another tool for the management of cancer pain.”