Bone marrow shielding apparatus and method of bone marrow-shielded cancer chemotherapy
First Claim
1. A method for bone marrow-shielded chemotherapeutic treatment of a patient in need thereof, said method comprising:
- applying pressure to at least one body part of the patient to temporarily occlude arterial flow to the bone marrow within the proximal humerus and/or proximal femur while blood circulation through the remainder of the body is maintained, administering to the blood circulation in the remainder of the body an effective amount of at least one myelosuppresive chemotherapeutic agent while the arterial flow through the at least one body part is occluded and so that the myelosuppresive effect of the agent is substantially dissipated within the maximum safe period for the occlusion of the arterial flow, and removing the pressure to restore blood circulation to the bone marrow when the effect has substantially dissipated and within the maximum safe period, wherein a tumor located in the remainder of the body is treated by the at least one chemotherapeutic agent without destruction of a substantial portion of the bone marrow in the at least one body part, and without general anesthesia.
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Abstract
The invention provides a variety of bone marrow-shielding tourniquets and methods for using them to perform bone marrow-shielded chemotherapy with or without general and without the need to remove a patient'"'"'s bone marrow for protection during the procedure. In the invention method, pressure is applied to at least one body part of the patient that contains myelopoietic bone marrow to temporarily occlude arterial flow to the bone marrow while blood circulation through the remainder of the body is maintained. Then an effective amount of at least one myelosuppresive chemotherapeutic agent is administered to the blood circulation in the remainder of the patient while the arterial flow through the at least one body part is occluded and so that the myelosuppresive effect of the agent is substantially dissipated within the maximum safe period for the occlusion of the arterial flow, or about three hours. The pressure is removed to restore blood circulation to the bone marrow when the effect has substantially dissipated and within the maximum safe period. By the invention method, a tumor located in the remainder of the body is treated by the at least one chemotherapeutic agent without destruction of a substantial portion of the bone marrow in the occluded body part. The bone marrow shielding tourniquets for use in the invention chemotherapeutic method are designed to substantially cover at least the shoulder or hip area of a human so as to occlude arterial flow therein and include inflatable bladders that apply the requisite pressure when the tourniquet is applied to the wearer. The shoulder tourniquet optionally is designed to occlude arterial flow into the proximal scapula as well as into the shoulder area. Bilateral tourniquets are also provided for simultaneous occlusion of bilateral shoulders and, optionally, bilateral scapulae.
59 Citations
40 Claims
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1. A method for bone marrow-shielded chemotherapeutic treatment of a patient in need thereof, said method comprising:
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applying pressure to at least one body part of the patient to temporarily occlude arterial flow to the bone marrow within the proximal humerus and/or proximal femur while blood circulation through the remainder of the body is maintained, administering to the blood circulation in the remainder of the body an effective amount of at least one myelosuppresive chemotherapeutic agent while the arterial flow through the at least one body part is occluded and so that the myelosuppresive effect of the agent is substantially dissipated within the maximum safe period for the occlusion of the arterial flow, and removing the pressure to restore blood circulation to the bone marrow when the effect has substantially dissipated and within the maximum safe period, wherein a tumor located in the remainder of the body is treated by the at least one chemotherapeutic agent without destruction of a substantial portion of the bone marrow in the at least one body part, and without general anesthesia. - View Dependent Claims (31)
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2. A method for bone marrow-shielded chemotherapeutic treatment of a patient in need thereof, said method comprising:
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applying a bone marrow shielding tourniquet to cover at least one body part of the patient so as to temporarily occlude arterial flow to the bone marrow to temporarily occlude arterial flow to the bone marrow within the proximal humerus and/or proximal femur while blood circulation through the remainder of the body is maintained, administering to the blood circulation in the remainder of the body an effective amount of at least one myelosuppresive chemotherapeutic agent and while the arterial flow through the at least one body part is occluded until the myelosuppresive effect of the agent is substantially dissipated within the maximum safe period for the occlusion of the arterial flow, and removing the bone marrow shielding tourniquet to restore blood circulation to the bone marrow when the effect has substantially dissipated and within the maximum safe period. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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32. A method for fabricating an individualized bone marrow shielding tourniquet, said method comprising:
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(a) wrapping a hip or shoulder to be compressed for occlusion of arterial blood flow therein with an inflatable bladder having a fluid-tight connector, (b) wrapping the inflatable bladder with a softened orthopedic cast material so as to leave free the connector, and (c) molding the cast material and the one or more inflatable bladders around the hip or shoulder under conditions suitable for causing the orthopedic cast material to harden. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. A method for protecting myelopoietic marrow cells from the effects of chemotherapeutic agents without the need for physical removal of bone marrow cells from the body of a patient in need thereof, said method comprising:
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applying substantially uniform pressure of from 5 mmHg to about 300 mmHg above the systolic blood pressure around at least one body part including the proximal humerus and/or femur of the patient to temporarily occlude arterial flow to the bone marrow therein while blood circulation through the remainder of the body is maintained, administering to the blood circulation in the remainder of the body an effective amount of at least one myelosuppresive chemotherapeutic agent while the arterial flow through the at least one body part is occluded and so that the myelosuppresive effect of the agent is substantially dissipated within about three hours of commencement of the application of the pressure, and removing the pressure to restore blood circulation to the bone marrow when the effect has substantially dissipated and within the three hours. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40)
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Specification