Microsphere Radiation Brings Hope to Liver Cancer Patients
Posted on 10/14/2009
St. Alexius Medical Center in conjunction with the Bismarck Cancer Center is now offering a treatment option for inoperable liver cancer called Selective Internal Radiation Therapy (SIRT).
SIRT is a non-surgical treatment option using radioactive microspheres, called SIR-Spheres®, to deliver radiation directly to the site of the liver tumor. This precisely targeted therapy delivers up to 40 times more radiation to the liver tumor than would be possible using conventional radiotherapy; all the while sparing healthy liver tissue.
“We know that radiation is an effective therapy for treating and destroying cancer cells,” says Kathleen Nordstrom, MD, Radiation Oncologist, Bismarck Cancer Center. “This technique allows for a more effective approach to shrink the cancerous tumor that exists in the liver, but does so without harming other organs.”
The procedure works by administering the SIR-Spheres® microspheres into the hepatic artery, from where the tumor receives its blood supply. “Once the microspheres are in the artery, they travel in the bloodstream to the tumor, where they lodge themselves around the tumor and destroy it,” says Brent Herbel, MD, Interventional Radiologist, St. Alexius Medical Center.
SIR-Spheres microspheres therapy is used as a regional treatment; meaning, the anti-cancer effect is concentrated in the liver and therefore has no effect on the cancer that has spread to other sites. SIR-Spheres microspheres is not a cure, but has been shown to shrink tumors more effectively than chemotherapy. Quality of life may improve and life expectancy may increase.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved this procedure in 2002 for the treatment of secondary liver cancer, whereas the cancer originates in the bowel (colon) and spreads to the liver (metastatic colorectal cancer).