AimTo evaluate the effectiveness of external beam irradiation in bone pain secondary to metastases; with emphasis on the onset of symptoms relief, the duration of response and relate onset of pain relief to age in = 40 years and = 40years patients.
SettingAhmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria, Nigeria.
ResultBreast cancer is the commonest cause of metastatic bone pain from solid tumours in Zaria, Nigeria. Females were more commonly affected. Two out of every 5 patients were less than 40 years old. Eighty-six percent of the patients obtained significant pain relief in the first week of treatment.At 12 weeks, the mean pain score and analgesic scores were 0.67 and 0.16 respectively.
ConclusionExternal beam irradiation is an effective treatment modality in an African population with metastatic bone pain.
The aim of this study was to assess whether introduction of Docetaxel into the management will improve palliation of symptoms, quality of life, response rate and probably survival in breast cancer patients. A total of 19 patients referred from different medical centers in Nigeria were entered into the study. The age range was 25 to 52 years with a median of 34 years. The sex incidence was 18 females, 1 male. There were 7 patients in stage III and the duration of median response was 30 months. There were 12 patients in stage IV. Out of these 3 patients with brain metastasis had median response of 4 months. 4 patients with liver metastasis average duration of response was 22 months. 5 patients with pulmonary metastasis average duration of response was 20 months. In all, 16, out of the 19 patients (84%) had median response duration of 20 30 months. Better response rate could have been in patients with cerebral metastasis but for the fact that Docetaxel does not penetrate brain barrier. Multicentre studies are now needed to reconfirm the superiority of Doxetacel over existing cytotoxic chemotherapeutic drugs currently in use in the management of advanced and metastatic breast cancer in Nigeria.
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