Is there anyone who learned about successful treatments of secondary
bone cancer? A friend of mine had cervical cancer, suffered thru
chemo and surgery missing one bad lymph node, finally causing
diffuse bone metastasis. She was told, that radiation therapy does not
work with bone cancer, and they had already failed with chemo -- thus
she has LOST (???). I'd appeared not only to me, that they hadn't very
much experience with this kind of cancer ...

Thus I'm looking desperately for contacts, trials or anything that may
confirm the case or open new perspectives!!!

short.

Unfortunately the situation you describe means that the patient is not
curable.
However, if she has pain due to her bone metastases, then radiotherapy is by
far the best treatment for palliation to improve the quality of your
friend's life, if not the quantity.
About 80% of patients with painful bone metastases get good or complete pain
relief following radiotherapy.
Unless she has the (fairly rare) situation of widespread bone metastases but
NO pain, radiotherapy is exactly the correct treatment.
If she hasn't seen a radiation oncologist, she should.
Whoever said "radiation therapy does not work with bone cancer" was either
misunderstood, or doesn't know the facts.

She was told, that radiation therapy does not

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Last April, a bone cancer was found on my spinal
column. They shot it with 25 doses of radiation
on 25 different days. I was on narcotic pain pills from
June through December and withdrawal from then to March.
I still have some pain but the scans show that the radiation
did remove the bone cancer. I don't know why I still have chest
pain though. The chest pain isn't all that noticeable. Only when
I sneeze.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Quote:
'I want the 21st century to be prosperous. And I don't
want anybody being left behind' - - - - - -
Texas Governor George W. Bush, March 2, 1999
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Visit Terry's `Another True Story' web page at:
http://www.io.com/~jvaughn/tmoore1.htm
Copyright (c) 1999 by Terry Moore

You might want to read about "Clodronate" in the chapter by that name
in the following book:

    Ross Pelton, R.Ph., Ph.D., and Lee Overholser, Ph.D., "Alternatives in
    Cancer Therapy", NY: Fireside/Simon&Schuster, 1994.  ISBN 0-671-79623-2.

The authors say that Clodronate "may be the Bone Cancer Answer", because
they have repeatedly seen it clear up secondary bone cancer.

Pelton's clinic can be reached by telephone at 800-359-6547 or, if that
doesn't work from .de land, at 619-428-1147.  If the latter number doesn't
work, e-mail me and I'll try to find out if there has been an Area Code
change since this book was printed.  That's happening a lot in the U.S.
these days.

Best wishes,
-John Sangster
 Wellesley Hills, MA USA

There are several {*filter*} under study right now that seem to be effective
in preventing cancer from spreading to the bone.  My wife is on one of
them, peridronate.  As I said in another thread, cancer that spreads to
the bone is not bone cancer, but [blank]cancer metasticized to the bone.  
The treatment for such cancer is usually the same as that for the
original cancer, wherever it began.  Radiation can knock it out of a bone
site, but won't necessarily keep it from seeding in another one.  We just
have to keep fighting it back in a fighting retreat hoping against hope
that one of the new gene therapy {*filter*} or antiangiogenic {*filter*} will come
along soon enough to help.  All we can do is fight and hope.

Greg M.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

That confuses me. My cancer started out as thyroid
cancer and metastisized to my spinal column - - that's
what I was told. Yet, RAI 131 treatment didn't kill it out.
I went through the RAI 131 treatment twice. Perhaps the
metastisis was from something else to the thyroid? My
cancer began with two malignant melanomas on my back
in 1990. Next, basal cell carcinoma brought about amputation
of part of a finger in 1995. The thyroid cancer showed up in
1996 and the bone (spinal column) cancer in 1998.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Quote:
'I want the 21st century to be prosperous. And I don't
want anybody being left behind' - - - - - -
Texas Governor George W. Bush, March 2, 1999
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Visit Terry's `Another True Story' web page at:
http://www.io.com/~jvaughn/tmoore1.htm
Copyright (c) 1999 by Terry Moore

Thyroid cancer is treated with I131, but often concentrates iodine poorly,
and in addition, it tends to concentrate less well as tiem goes on.
Most people derive no further benefit from I131 afetr the 2nd or 3rd
treatment.
External beam radiation still works, though.

> That confuses me. My cancer started out as thyroid
> cancer and metastisized to my spinal column - - that's
> what I was told. Yet, RAI 131 treatment didn't kill it out.
> I went through the RAI 131 treatment twice. Perhaps the
> metastisis was from something else to the thyroid? My
> cancer began with two malignant melanomas on my back
> in 1990. Next, basal cell carcinoma brought about amputation
> of part of a finger in 1995. The thyroid cancer showed up in
> 1996 and the bone (spinal column) cancer in 1998.

> <><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
> Quote:
> 'I want the 21st century to be prosperous. And I don't
> want anybody being left behind' - - - - - -
> Texas Governor George W. Bush, March 2, 1999
> <><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
> Visit Terry's `Another True Story' web page at:
> http://www.io.com/~jvaughn/tmoore1.htm
> Copyright (c) 1999 by Terry Moore

: Thyroid cancer is treated with I131, but often concentrates iodine poorly,
: and in addition, it tends to concentrate less well as tiem goes on.
: Most people derive no further benefit from I131 afetr the 2nd or 3rd
: treatment.
: External beam radiation still works, though.

: > That confuses me. My cancer started out as thyroid
: > cancer and metastisized to my spinal column - - that's
: > what I was told. Yet, RAI 131 treatment didn't kill it out.
: > I went through the RAI 131 treatment twice. Perhaps the
: > metastisis was from something else to the thyroid? My
: > cancer began with two malignant melanomas on my back
: > in 1990. Next, basal cell carcinoma brought about amputation
: > of part of a finger in 1995. The thyroid cancer showed up in
: > 1996 and the bone (spinal column) cancer in 1998.
: >

: > <><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
: > Quote:
: > 'I want the 21st century to be prosperous. And I don't
: > want anybody being left behind' - - - - - -
: > Texas Governor George W. Bush, March 2, 1999
: > <><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
: > Visit Terry's `Another True Story' web page at:
: > http://www.io.com/~jvaughn/tmoore1.htm
: > Copyright (c) 1999 by Terry Moore
: >

Your cancer in the bone is still thyroid cancer; unhappily it's thyroid
cancer that's grown resistant to that particular treatment.  That's why
it spread.  No chemo treatment ever gets every single cell.  Some
survive, are resistant to that treatment, and have to be attacked with
another treatment.  It's a miserable process.

Greg M.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Thanks. RAI 131 was done soon after the initial surgery
to remove the thyroid gland and a lot of meat on the
right side of my neck and shoulder. About 9 months later,
spots showed up on the esophagus so another dose of
RAI 131 wss administered. The bone cancer showed up
nearly 2 years after the original surgery. That was treated
with external beam radiation and it seems to have worked.
I'm still hopeful and my doctors tell me that my optimism
is justified.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Quote:
'I want the 21st century to be prosperous. And I don't
want anybody being left behind' - - - - - -
Texas Governor George W. Bush, March 2, 1999
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Visit Terry's `Another True Story' web page at:
http://www.io.com/~jvaughn/tmoore1.htm
Copyright (c) 1999 by Terry Moore

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Thanks. It has been a miserable process - - - but
it beats the fool out of the alternative. I am confident
that my five doctors are doing all they can for me.
They've bought me time and there's no way I can
experss my gratitude to them for that.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Quote:
'I want the 21st century to be prosperous. And I don't
want anybody being left behind' - - - - - -
Texas Governor George W. Bush, March 2, 1999
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Visit Terry's `Another True Story' web page at:
http://www.io.com/~jvaughn/tmoore1.htm
Copyright (c) 1999 by Terry Moore