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The Desmoid Tumor Research Foundation

February 2018

Use of High-intensity Focused Ultrasound in the Management of Extra-abdominal Desmoid Tumors

Author Information

Bartocci, Margherita(1); Bazzocchi, Alberto(2); Napoli, Alessandro(3); Ghanouni, Pejman(4); Spinnato, Paolo(5); Facchini, Giancarlo(6); Bonomo, Lorenzo(7); Albisinni, Ugo(8)

(1)Department of Radiological Sciences, Catholic University, School of Medicine, Largo A. Gemelli 1, Roma, Italy.(2)Department of Radiological Sciences, Rizzoli Hospital, Via G.C. Pupilli 1, Bologna, Italy.(3)Department of Radiological Sciences, Sapienza University, School of Medicine, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, Roma, Italy.(4)Department of Radiological Sciences, Stanford University Medical Center, 291 Campus Drive, Stanford, CA, United States.(5)Department of Radiological Sciences, Rizzoli Hospital, Via G.C. Pupilli 1, Bologna, Italy.(6)Department of Radiological Sciences, University of Bologna, School of Medicine, Via Zamboni 33, Bologna, Italy.(7)Department of Radiological Sciences, Catholic University, School of Medicine, Largo A. Gemelli 1, Roma, Italy.(8)Department of Radiological Sciences, Rizzoli Hospital, Via G.C. Pupilli 1, Bologna, Italy.

Publication

Curr Med Im Rev

Summary

High-intensity focused ultrasound ablation is an emerging mode of therapy for benign and malignant neoplastic processes; with respect to musculoskeletal tumors, high-intensity focused ultrasound ablation has been used for palliative treatment of bone metastases and primary treatment of osteoid osteoma, synovial sarcoma, osteosarcoma, Ewing sarcoma, chondrosarcoma and giant cell bone cancer. Experience with high-intensity focused ultrasound ablation of extra-abdominal desmoids is limited and in particular it has been reported by Wang et al. in 2011 and by Avedian et al. in 2015. According to these research groups, high-intensity focused ultrasound is a safe and effective non-invasive therapeutic modality in the treatment of desmoid tumors. High-intensity focused ultrasound may be useful to treat soft tissue tumors of extremities, especially in situations in which standard treatments would be associated with unacceptable morbidity as is often the case with extra-abdominal desmoids.

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