Comparison of the Effect of Combined Treatment with Radiotherapy and Hyperthermia versus Exclusively Radiotherapy to Reduce Pain in Patients with Bone Metastases

Abstract

Based on the extant studies conducted by scholars, recognizing the best and practical treatment methods in patients with bone metastases is an important and conspicuous focus in improving and amelioration of the treatment and prognosis of patients. Ergo, this study aims to compare the effects of radiotherapy and hyperthermia with radiotherapy only to reduce pain in one of the oncology centers located in Tehran (the capital city of Iran). In this randomized clinical trial study, patients with bone metastases were randomly assigned to one of two group’s radiotherapy and hyperthermia or radiotherapy exclusively and the collected data were processed through Statistical Package of Social Science (SPSS). Thenceforth, findings were evaluated and compared between the two groups. A total of 60 patients inclusive of 34 women and 26 men were investigated. In the baseline, 20 patients in the case group (67%) and 21 patients in the control group (70%) used palliative drugs. At the end of the trial, the consumption of palliative drugs was decreased in the case group (12 patients, 43%) but, no change was observed in the control group. After treatment, complete response to treatment (27% vs. 13%), experienced a decrease in the clinical pain (57% vs. 83%) and did not respond to treatment in a stable mode (17% vs. 4%) of which were different between case and control groups, respectively. Regardless of the difference in the ratio of partial response in two groups, there was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of response to treatment. Although the effect of radiotherapy and hyperthermia in comparison with radiotherapy exclusively was more efficacious in some aspects of the intervention of pain with sleep. However, there was no remarkable and significant difference in other cases.