Quantifying leukocyte and thrombocyte suppression-recovery after Re-186 HEDP for bone metastases

Using a standard quantity of Re-186 HEDP, for therapy of osseous metastases from carcinoma of the breast, Palmedo and associates reported leukocyte and thrombocyte responses at 4 and 8 weeks. These were analyzed by dividing results into categories, based on the numeric initial values. Thrombocytes at 8 weeks exceeded pretreatment values in 10 of 18 cases. This "over-rebound" was also found in 7 of 19 leukocyte responses. The ability to predict thrombocyte-leukocyte response, in most cases, was linked to the initial hematologic values. If coupled with data on the status of bone marrow, this may allow the quantity of therapeutic radiopharmaceutical used to be increased or decreased without irreversibly compromising hematopoietic responses.