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Bobby Koneru: Osteoarthritis delays progression in low dose radiation therapy
Dec 30, 2024, 00:22

Bobby Koneru: Osteoarthritis delays progression in low dose radiation therapy

Bobby Koneru, Founder, President and Radiation Oncologist at POG and Affiliate Faculty at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, shared a post on X:

“Steroid injections accelerate osteoarthritis progression.

Low Dose Radiation Therapy (LDRT) delays progression.

With emerging evidence to suggest that steroid injections may do more harm than good in OA patients, LDRT is gaining traction as a potential treatment to reduce pain and delay progression.

We know that LDRT creates a potent anti-inflammatory effect and reduces pain in OA. But how does LDRT delay progression?

At the cellular level, LDRT has been observed to affect various processes involved in OA pathogenesis:

  • It may influence osteo immunological mechanisms, affecting bone formation and the resorption activity of osteoclasts.
  • LDRT can alter the inflammatory phenotype of macrophages.
  • The treatment may reduce the adhesion of infiltrating immune cells to endothelial cells.

These effects on cellular behavior and interactions could contribute to slowing the degenerative processes in OA.

While immediate pain relief is a primary goal of LDRT, its disease-modifying potential lies in its ability to potentially alter the long-term course of OA:

  • By reducing inflammation and modulating immune responses, LDRT might slow down joint degradation over time.
  • The treatment’s effects on cellular processes involved in OA progression suggest it could have lasting benefits beyond immediate symptom relief.

The Russian studies on low-dose radiation therapy (LDRT) for knee osteoarthritis demonstrated significant long-term benefits over a 9-10 year follow-up period.

Patients receiving LDRT showed a 50% reduction in disability risk and a two-thirds decrease in the need for knee arthroplasty compared to the control group.

These findings suggest that LDRT may have disease-modifying effects in osteoarthritis.”

Bobby Koneru

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