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Metastatic Cancer in the Liver Controlled With Treatment of Yttrium-90 Microspheres: Presented at SIR

By Ed Susman

TORONTO, CANADA -- April 5, 2006 -- The infusion of radioactive microscopic glass beads into the blood vessels in the liver appears to reduce the tumor burden in patients with metastatic liver cancer, and may improve overall survival, researchers noted here at the 31^st annual meeting of the Society for Interventional Radiology (SIR).

The minimally invasive procedure gives treatment options to doctors and patients trying to deal with unresectable tumors, said Tobias Jakobs, MD, interventional radiologist, Institute of Clinical Radiology, Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich, Germany.

"Selective Internal Radiation Therapy is a valuable palliative treatment option in a very carefully selected patient population," said Dr. Jakobs.

Dr. Jakobs reported on 39 patients with liver metastases who were treated with yttrium-90 microspheres. While the goal of the study is palliative treatment of these patients, Dr. Jakobs suggested that "our data show there is a tendency for a survival benefit."

In the German study, Dr. Jakobs and colleagues enrolled patients with unresectable liver cancer; 18 of the patients had metastatic colorectal cancer; 7 had metastatic breast cancer; 5 had hepatocellular carcinoma, and the remainder had other forms of liver cancer.

The median tumor burden at the start of the trial was 11% of the liver volume, he said. In fact, 14 patients had a tumor burden of more than 25% of the organ. No patient had a tumor burden that exceeded 50% of the volume of the liver.

The researchers infused resin microspheres, up to 40 microns in size, containing radioactive yttrium 90, with a maximum penetration in soft tissue of 11 mm. The researchers performed whole-liver procedures on 36 of the patients; only 3 patients had a single-lobe infusion.

In the breast cancer and colorectal patients, Dr. Jakobs reported that more than half of these individuals experienced disease stabilization. Among the 5 patients with hepatocellular cancer, all showed a strong response to the treatment, with shrinkage of the tumor observed.

Dr. Jakobs suggested that patients with liver cancer "seem to benefit most from the treatment, but even in metastatic colorectal and breast cancer, the treatment is probably a valuable option to extend survival."


[Presentation title: Selective Internal Radiation Therapy with Yttrium-90 Microspheres in Metastatic Liver Disease: Clinical Results. Abstract 33]

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