Cement to help fix spinal fractures

RESEARCHERS in Yorkshire are developing a type of cement to help cancer patients who suffer spinal fractures.

Every year nearly 4,000 people in the UK are diagnosed with multiple myeloma, an incurable cancer of the bone marrow which damages bones.

The illness remains incurable but advances in treatment mean patients are surviving for longer, with a third living for at least five years. But they are at greater risk of secondary symptoms such as painful bone deterioration.

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Now in a 600,000 project, experts from Leeds University are examining if techniques such as injecting cement into the spine to stabilise the bone, or using plates to fix fractures, can be adapted.

Richard Hall, Professor of Spinal Biomechanics in Leeds, said: "Our aim is to give people suffering from this disease a better quality of life. If the spine becomes weakened or fractures, patients can do little more than stay in bed and try to deal with the pain.

"Most multiple myeloma patients are in their sixties or older but even simple things that we take for granted, such as sitting your grandchild on your knee, can become impossible for them."

The work will combine laboratory experiments with computer modelling to predict the impacts of various treatments.

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Prof Hall will be collaborating with researchers at the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, at one of Canada's largest hospitals in Toronto, and leading specialists in Leeds.

Consultant neurosurgeon Jake Timothy, from Leeds, who is part of the project team, has developed an award-winning service to help fix painful vertebrae and spinal compression fractures associated with osteoporosis and has seen the dramatic improvement it can have for patients.

He said: "This money will undoubtedly aid our understanding and help us select which patients will benefit the most from these procedures, improving their quality of life even further."

The work has been funded through the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and will run for four years.

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