Imagine millions of microscopic radio-active resin beads (spheres) traveling through the bloodstream with one mission: to target and destroy liver cancer cells. That’s exactly what SIR-Spheres® Therapy is doing for patients with primary liver cancer and inoperable secondary liver cancer (spread from colorectal and other primary cancers).
This non-surgical, outpatient therapy places a catheter in the femoral artery of the upper thigh which is threaded through the major blood vessel of the liver (hepatic artery). Through this catheter, the microscopic spheres are delivered directly to the tumor where they become trapped. For about two weeks, the injected spheres radiate the tumor, destroying the cancerous cells from the inside. SIR-Spheres® can safely deliver many times more radiation than conventional techniques.
While SIR-Spheres® therapy is not considered a cure, it can extend survival, sometimes by years, and improve patients’ quality of life. In some cases, it can also shrink the liver tumors enough to allow for surgical removal.
Learn more about SIR-Spheres® Therapy.26/2008