UPMC expands radiation treatment and finds life-changing success for patients

UPMC Hillman Cancer Center is exploring everything radiation treatment can treat, and the success has been life-changing for people. 

Judy Wood has Ledderhose disease, a rare and aggressive genetic condition that causes fibrous tumors to grow on the soles of the feet.

"They're hard. It's like stepping on marbles," Wood said.

She feared a future where she would eventually be unable to walk, like what happened to her father and grandmother, who had the same disease.

"I couldn't find anything or anyone to help me, so I thought I have to do everything I need to do really fast, because by the time I reach 70, I'm going to be out," Wood said. "I'll just be sitting on the couch."

When her tumors started popping up, a podiatrist recommended a call to Dr. Tyler Wilhite, a radiation oncologist at UPMC Hillman Cancer Center.

"Typically, when people think of radiation oncology, they think about using radiation to treat various types of cancer," Dr. Wilhite said.

While Wood's tumors were not cancerous, they were ending her life as she knew it.

"I couldn't travel or go on a 2-mile walk because my feet hurt," she said. "I couldn't find shoes to wear. I couldn't dance."

Dr. Wilhite added, "That can be a debilitating condition that could actually be improved with the use of radiation."

With 10 treatments spread across three months, Wood's tumors started to shrink. And they kept shrinking.

"And the best news is, I'm not going to get new ones," Wood said.

"Well, maybe not for another thirty years," Dr. Wilhite said.

While Ledderhose is a rare disease that affects fewer than 200,000 people in the U.S., there's another condition that causes pain and disability for 32 million Americans for which radiation could help.

"For arthritis, we think perhaps there could be a reduction in inflammation," Dr. Wilhite said.

He added there's more than 100 years of history of using low-dose radiation for osteoarthritis and more than 30 other diseases. However, not everyone's a candidate. They prefer patients to be over 50 and have failed other treatments for their pain.

There can be side effects, like fatigue or skin reactions, but Dr. Wilhite says that's rare, and Wood agrees.

"I really didn't have any side effects. Maybe just a little bit of dryness," Wood said.

It's a small tradeoff, she said, in the grand scheme of things.

"I had nothing to lose, but everything to gain," Wood said. 

Wilhite says this technology is available at every UPMC Hillman Cancer Center. And unlike most specialized medical care, they accept self-referrals from people who want to know if they're good candidates for this treatment.

For more information, call the UPMC Radiation Oncology team for non-cancer treatments at 855-777-3228.