John Murphy never expected relief to come in less than a second.
The 68-year-old had been living with metastatic rib cancer — a burning, constant pain that made it hard to sleep, hard to breathe, hard to feel like himself. Then he joined a clinical trial at the University of Cincinnati Cancer Center and received a new type of radiation therapy called FLASH. The treatment took less than a second. The pain relief lasted months.
"I could feel the difference almost right away," John said in a follow-up visit, one of the many patients who reported dramatically improved quality of life after the procedure.
John's experience is part of a landmark study that researchers say could change how doctors treat cancer that has spread to bones. The trial, called FAST-02, tested FLASH radiation therapy on 10 patients whose cancers had spread to bones in their chest — ribs, collarbones, the breastbone, or shoulder blades. These are tricky spots because they're close to the heart, lungs, and spine.
FLASH works by delivering radiation at an astonishing speed — so fast it's measured in fractions of a second. That's up to 1,000 times quicker than traditional radiation therapy, which typically takes several minutes per session. The theory is that by hitting cancer cells so quickly, the treatment may spare more healthy tissue while still attacking the tumor.
The results, published in the journal Radiotherapy and Oncology, were striking. Three months after treatment, 75% of patients reported complete pain relief at the treated site. No patients experienced their cancer spreading or returning at the spot where FLASH was used. Most side effects were mild skin changes that faded over time. No serious complications related to the treatment were observed.
"The significance of FAST-02 lies in our treatment sites being bone metastases within the thorax, which places them near the lungs, heart and spinal cord," said Dr. Emily Daugherty, the study's lead co-investigator and a radiation oncologist at UC Health. "Importantly, the results continue to show that FLASH effectively controls pain with minimal side effects, and there were no serious adverse events related to the treatment."
This trial built on an earlier study called FAST-01, which tested the same approach on bone metastases in the arms and legs. The new research confirms the treatment can also be safely delivered near critical organs in the chest.
For patients like John, the implications are significant. Metastatic bone cancer affects hundreds of thousands of people worldwide each year, often causing severe pain that dulls every waking moment. Current treatments can help, but they often come with side effects or require repeated visits.
FLASH therapy, by contrast, can potentially be delivered in a single quick session with minimal discomfort. The research team — which included collaborators from Cincinnati Children's Hospital, Varian Medical Systems, and UC Health — is now planning larger studies to confirm these early results.
"This really opens the door to using FLASH for tumors deeper in the body," Daugherty said. "These patients deserve better options, and we think we're getting closer to providing them."
For now, the technology remains experimental. But in labs across Cincinnati, researchers are watching the data come in — and seeing something that looks a lot like hope.