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For Release: November 1, 1999
RADIATION TREATMENTS KEEP ONCE-BLOCKED
ARTERIES FROM RE-BLOCKING
In what could be a major breakthrough in the treatment of patients with cardiovascular disease, radiation treatments are now being used to keep once-blocked arteries from re-blocking.
A new study of 252 patients from 12 medical facilities across the country has found that patients who received radiation treatments were much less likely to develop restenosis (blockage again) nine months after treatment compared to their counterparts who did not have radiation treatments, says Prabhakar Tripuraneni, M.D., head of radiation oncology at Scripps Clinic in La Jolla, CA.
One hundred and thirty one of the patients had endovascular brachytherapy done with Ir-192 radioactive seeds inserted into the coronary artery in the area of the blockage. The radioactive seeds are left in for about 20 minutes, and then removed, says Dr. Tripuraneni. Endovascular brachytherapy is done immediately following angioplasty and is performed as a collaborative effort between a radiation oncologist and a cardiologist, he adds.
The other half of the patients had standard angioplasty done followed by "dummy" seed endovascular brachytherapy; the "dummy" seeds were not radioactive.
About one-third of the patients who underwent endovascular brachytherapy with the radioactive seeds had restenosis nine months following treatment, compared to more than half of those when "dummy" seeds were used, says Dr. Tripuraneni. The numbers were more dramatic if the area being treated was smaller, he adds.
All the patients in the study had undergone angioplasty and had stents put in at least once. Cardiologists had put the stents in the arteries in an effort to keep another blockage from occurring, but the arteries began to close again, notes Dr. Tripuraneni. Even with stents, between one-third and one-half of patients who have angioplasty, usually end up needing another procedure or possibly several more procedures because the artery tends to re-block again and again six to nine months after treatment, says Dr.Tripuraneni. This trial indicates that radiation treatments might be an answer to this problem, he says.
Dr. Tripuraneni presented the study at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology annual meeting November 1 in San Antonio, TX.
"Several other studies are in progress testing the role of various isotopes with different delivery systems and in various coronary conditions. For example, the Scripps trial has followed patients for more than three years and has found nearly a 70 percent reduction in restenosis using endovascular brachytherapy without any significant complications," Dr. Tripuraneni says.
The American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO) is the largest radiation oncology society in the world, with more than 5,000 members. As a leading organization in radiation oncology, biology and physics, the society's goals are to advance the scientific base of radiation therapy and to extend the benefits of radiation therapy to those with cancer.
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