RomanaY-90 SPHERE for Selective Internal Radiation Therapy
Selective Internal Radiation Therapy is a type of radiation therapy internally targeting hepatic tumors with high radiation doses.
Y-90 Microspheres
Y-90 Microspheres are the most frequently used selective Internal radiation therapy, where millions of radioactive micro-particles are injected through a catheter through the hepatic artery ensuring the vascularity required for tumor growth. These micro-particles have the diameter of one third of a hair, the same molecular weight as the erythrocytes and they easily flow through the blood flow ensuring tumor vascularization.
Transported as an actual “Trojan horse” through the blood flow so required for the tumor growth and development, the microspheres are located inside and around the tumor where high doses are released, destroying the tumor tissue. Microspheres release radiations over a narrow area with minimum healthy tissue destruction. Radiation release destroys tumor cells and thus the tumor decreases. The microspheres irradiate the tumor for two weeks after the intervention, only 3% of the initial radiating dose remaining active afterwards. After one month, the irradiation is almost null, but its effects on the tumor system persist in time.
The benefits of Selective Internal Radiation Therapy (SIRT) are:
- it uses the same pathway that ensures tumor vascularization
- it provides low radiation doses at the level of the tumor and for a longer timespan than it would be possible through external radiation therapy
- the healthy tissue is irradiated to a very low extent
- the tumor tissue destroyed by SIRT helps reduce the size of the tumor that opens the perspective of the subsequent surgical intervention.
Administrarea microsferelor cu Y-90 în cadrul radioterapiei interne selective (SIRT) este o procedură scurtă și minim invazivă. După anestezie locală medicul radThe administration of the Y-90 microspheres as part of the Selective Internal Radiation Therapy (SIRT) is a short and minimum invasive procedure. After the local anesthesia, the radiologist introduces a catheter to the hepatic artery through a small incision. The Y-90 microspheres are then entered through the catheter. The whole procedure takes 60-90 minutes. At the end of the procedure, the hepatic tumor radioactivity level is checked. The patient is monitored for a few more hours. The procedure does not mandatorily require hospitalization, but, upon the doctor’s decision, the patient can stay in the hospital for 1-2 days.
Selective Internal Radiation Therapy with Microspheres is a therapeutic method used in the treatment of tumors that cannot be surgically removed. The most frequent uses are metastatic hepatic tumors of colon cancer and primary hepatic tumors (hepatocarcinoma). They can, however, be used, in a variety of tumors determining hepatic metastases, such as breast, lung or eye tumors.
