Inova Fairfax Hospital Physicians First in Area to Offer Minimally Invasive Treatment for Liver Cancer Patients
August 4, 2006
Precision Technology Attacks
Cancer While Sparing Healthy Tissue; Improves Life Expectancy and Patient
Quality of Life
Fairfax, VA – Physicians at Inova Fairfax Hospital are now performing a
minimally invasive treatment for patients with inoperable liver cancer using
technology that precisely targets cancerous tumors while sparing healthy tissue.
Called Selective Internal Radiation Therapy (SIRT), the technology has been
proven to increase life expectancy and improve patients’ overall quality of
life.
The procedure involves delivering millions of biocompatible, radioactive microspheres, called Sir-Spheres™, directly into the liver's hepatic artery via a catheter, which is threaded through the femoral artery in the patient’s groin. The microspheres, each 30 microns in diameter (smaller than a human hair), lodge in the tumor’s tiny blood vessels, choking off the tumor's blood supply, and irradiate the tumor from within. The precision technology allows for more radiation to be delivered directly to the tumor while sparing the surrounding, healthy tissue.
The SIRT procedure is performed on an outpatient basis by a highly skilled interventional radiologist and radiation oncologist team. The microscopic beads remain in the liver and lose their radiation within two weeks. The radiation does not pose a risk to family members.
"While surgical removal of these tumors offers the best chance at a cure, that's just not an option for 80- to 90-percent of patients with end-stage liver cancer," said Calvin Neithamer, MD, interventional radiologist, Inova Fairfax Hospital. Added Alain Drooz, MD, interventional radiology, "These patients, in most cases, have exhausted other treatment routes, such as chemotherapy and radiofrequency ablation, and Sir-Spheres can offer them one last therapeutic hope.”
The Food and Drug Administration approved of Sir-Spheres for patients with primary colorectal cancer that has spread, or metastasized, to the liver; however, physicians are also using Sir-Spheres to treat patients with primary liver cancer.
According to the American Cancer Society, nearly 149,000 new cases of colorectal cancer will be diagnosed in the United States in 2006. It is the third most common cancer in men and women and the second most common cause of death from cancer in the U.S. The Society of Interventional Radiologists notes that nearly half the patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer will have it spread to their liver.
"SIRT is not generally considered a cure," according to Samir Kanani, MD, radiation oncologist, Inova Fairfax Hospital, "but it adds to the limited arsenal of treatment options for patients with metastatic liver cancer. Essentially, it buys them more time to spend with their loved ones."
Inova Health System is a not-for-profit health care system based in Northern Virginia that consists of hospitals and other health services including emergency and urgent care centers, home care, nursing homes, mental health and blood donor services, and wellness classes. Governed by a voluntary board of community members, Inova's mission is to improve the health of the diverse community we serve through excellence in patient care, education and research.
