Jennifer Matthews: Two doctors with different areas of expertise brought together by a shared passion.
Dr. Denis Clohisy: When we met we had a shared interest and that was to try to understand the cause of bone cancer pain.
Jennifer Matthews: Pain researcher Patrick Mantyh and orthopedic surgeon Denis Clohisy both know what pain means to a bone cancer patient.
Dr. Patrick Mantyh: When you ask a person with cancer, what do you fear most about the disease? Once they now understand they have cancer, I think it's really dying in pain.
Dr. Denis Clohisy: If you just laid your hand on them in a way that would not typically cause pain, they might sense excruciating pain.
Jennifer Matthews: Their goal is to manage this pain and they are one step closer. Instead of focusing on the pain alone, they're targeting the cause of the pain.
Dr. Patrick Mantyh: When the tumor comes in, it hijacks the normal cells of the bone and it causes excessive bone destruction.
Jennifer Matthews: They found a substance called OPG stops the overproduction of destructive cells and decreases pain.
Dr. Patrick Mantyh: It returns the bone to its more normal state.
Jennifer Matthews: Even more, it works without the fatigue of traditional painkillers.
Dr. Denis Clohisy: It would give them the hope of not only being pain-free but being more active.
Jennifer Matthews: So far, study results are promising.
Dr. Patrick Mantyh says: I think that is what's really going to revolutionize medicine.
Jennifer Matthews: They say two heads are better than one. And for these two men, the answer will be found side-by-side. This is Jennifer Matthews reporting.
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