What Yttrium-90 Microsphere Radioembolization Is
Yttrium-90 microsphere radioembolization is an FDA approved, non-surgical procedure used to treat inoperable liver cancer and liver metastases. This innovative procedure delivers targeted, internal radiation therapy directly to the tumor.
With yttrium-90 microsphere radioembolization, a catheter is inserted through a tiny incision in the groin and threaded through the arteries until it reaches the hepatic artery. The hepatic artery is one of two blood vessels that feed the liver and the one that usually supplies blood to the tumors. Once the catheter is properly placed in the hepatic artery, millions of tiny beads, or microspheres, which contain the radioactive element yttrium-90, are released into the blood stream. These microspheres lodge into the smaller blood vessels that feed the tumor. In addition to preventing blood flow to the tumor, the microspheres emit radiation that destroys the cancerous cells. The radiation only penetrates approximately 1/16” of tissue, so very little healthy liver tissue is affected by the radiation.
Due to the targeted nature of this approach, it can deliver a much more potent dose of radiation than conventional radiation therapy. The radiation in the yttrium-90 continually decreases over a 2 week period, at which time the radiation is essentially gone. The microspheres will remain in the liver without causing any complications.
With Yttrium-90 microsphere radioembolization the whole liver can be treated in one session in most cases. In some instances the right and left lobes of the liver may need to be treated separately, with one month between the treatments. A trial run and mapping procedure is performed one week before the administration of the actual treatment dose to block off vessels that go outside of the liver (e.g. to the stomach) and to perform a test dose to prove that the majority of the dose will stay in the liver and not pass through to the lungs.
This minimally-invasive treatment has few side effects. It can be used to treat both primary and secondary liver cancer. While it won’t cure the cancer, it can shrink tumors, improve the quality of life, and often extends life for people with inoperable liver cancer and metastatic disease.
One of Radiology Imaging Associates' interventional radiologists, Dr. Charles Nutting,
was the first in the nation to perform this progressive procedure. Read more about
this procedure and Dr. Nutting in the article "
Life-Extending Technology Close to Home"
written for the Sky Ridge Medical Center Cancer Center. His partner, Dr. Brooke Spencer, started
a cancer program in Arizona and after 6 years moved to join Dr. Nutting in their state of the
art interventional oncology cancer practice. She has been building the program at Littleton
Adventist Hospital as well.
RIA radiologists perform this innovative cancer treatment at several Denver area hospitals.