Rhenium-188 HEDP to treat painful bone metastases.
OBJECTIVE
Rhenium-188 hydroxyethylidine diphosphonate (HEDP) is a new and attractive radiopharmaceutical that localizes in skeletal metastases and emits beta particles that may be therapeutically beneficial. In this study, the therapeutic efficacy of Re-188 HEDP was investigated in an uncontrolled initial trial of 61 patients with different types of advanced cancer for the palliation of painful bone metastases.


METHODS
Sixty-one patients with painful bone metastases of lung, prostate, breast, renal, rhinopharyngeal, and bladder cancers were treated with 1.1 GBq (31 mCi) to 6.9 GBq (188 mCi) Re-188 HEDP. After treatment, the patients were followed at weekly intervals for the first 2 months and monthly thereafter for as long as 1 year. Hematologic function tests were also performed before and after treatment for 6 weeks. Pain responses were scored according to a three-point pain-rating scale as complete, significant, and minimal.


RESULTS
Prompt and significant relief of bone pain occurred in 80% of patients overall. Of the specific tumor types, pain relief was achieved in 77% of patients with lung cancer, in 80% with prostate cancer, in 83% with breast cancer, in 100% with bladder cancer, in 50% with renal cancer, in 50% with rhinopharyngeal cancer, and in 87% of patients with other tumor types, with no severe side effects or hematopoietic toxicity.


CONCLUSIONS
This large clinical trial verified that Re-188 HEDP is a useful radiopharmaceutical agent to treat painful bone metastases from various tumor types.
Li
S
S
Department of Nuclear Medicine, Shanxi Medical University First Hospital, Shanxi, People's Republic of China.
Liu
J
J
Zhang
H
H
Tian
M
M
Wang
J
J
Zheng
X
X
D001859:Bone Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000532:radiotherapy* / Q000556:secondary*; D012968:Etidronic Acid; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009942:Organometallic Compounds; D010146:Pain / Q000209:etiology; D059408:Pain Management; D010166:Palliative Care; D010976:Platelet Count; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012211:Rhenium
D009942:Organometallic Compounds; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; C101598:rhenium-186 HEDP; D012211:Rhenium; D012968:Etidronic Acid