If you were a candidate for kyphoplasty and you have breast cancer that has metastisized close to the fracture would you have the procedure done?

It completely depends on the situation. In Kyphoplasty, either a spine surgeon or an interventional radiologist tries to treat a vertebral fracture using surgical cement. It effectively reduces the pain. In case of a cancer patient, the process accompanies radiofrequency ablation to remove cancer tissue.

Most of the cancer patients with vertebral fractures don’t need Kyphoplasty. The fracture can be relatively small or may be only a part of a much larger metastatic cancer problem which also needs chemotherapy, bone strengthening medications like zoledronate (Zometa) or denosumab (Xgeva) and radiation therapy to several spine segments. kyphoplasty may not be a safe option when a bone or tumour is pushing up against the spinal cord because the procedure may increase pressure on the spinal cord with a risk of paralysis.

But if your doctor thinks there is no harm in your case then kyphoplasty is an ideal option. That’s why the decision has to be taken by doctors who have the necessary experience to carry out such a challenging operation.