Y-90 Y-90 is a treatment option available at Bethesda Hospital East for patients with liver cancer. SIR-Spheres® microspheres are tiny particles, about one-third the width of a human hair, that contain the radioactive isotope yttrium-90, or Y-90, and can be delivered directly to liver tumors.
Full Answer
Is Y-90 the best treatment for colon cancer?
Y-90 liver cancer-busting treatment: Safe, fast, extends life, study finds. For metastatic colon cancer, that number is 150,000 per year. "The surgical removal of liver tumors offers the best chance for a cure," explained Salem. "For many reasons, a majority of patients are not candidates for surgical resection.
Can you get liver cancer treatment twice with Y-90?
Follow-up scans thus far have shown positive results, Dr. McBride says. “If it looks like it’s progressing again, we can potentially treat again with Y-90,” says Dr. McBride, who is careful to limit how much radiation a patient’s liver can take.
Would you recommend the Y-90 treatment?
Turnbull says he would “highly recommend” the Y-90 treatment, as well as his entire medical team, to other patients in similar places. “It did exactly what it was supposed to do,” he says.
What is Y-90 in cancer treatment?
Radioembolization is a minimally invasive procedure that combines embolization and radiation therapy to treat liver cancer. Tiny glass or resin beads filled with the radioactive isotope yttrium Y-90 are placed inside the blood vessels that feed a tumor.
How much does Y90 treatment cost?
The primary outcome was the overall difference in cost between Y-90 vs TACE for treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma at Einstein Medical Center. The price of a Y-90 ranges from $30,000 to $35,000 with an average of $32,500. The price of a TACE ranges from $18,000 to $22,000 with an average of $20,000.
How long does a Y90 mapping procedure take?
Y-90 radiotherapy is done by an interventional radiologist, a doctor who specializes in procedures that use X-ray guidance. The treatment is done in several steps over a few months. Step 1 is a procedure called a mapping angiogram. It takes 2 to 4 hours.
How many times can you have Y90 treatments?
Patients are typically limited to two treatments, although doctors can take another approach — only with concentrated chemotherapy and larger particles — once radiation limits are reached. “He could potentially have that multiple times to prolong his survival and keep him doing well,” Dr.
Can you be around people after Y-90 treatment?
After treatment with Y-90 radioactive material, you will emit a small amount of radiation. These levels are quite low. After treatment, you have no special precautions to follow to limit exposing other people to radiation. It is safe for people to be around you.
Is Y-90 covered by insurance?
Most insurance companies generally cover the cost of SIR-Spheres Y-90 resin microspheres for the treatment of colorectal cancer which has spread to the liver.
How long are you radioactive after Y90?
Once in place, these work by radiating and destroying the surrounding tissue (tumor). These spheres will remain in the tumor and are not removed. The Y90 has a half-life of 64.2 hours. This means that it will be non-radioactive in about a month's time.
What happens after the Y90 procedure?
After the procedure Imaging is performed on the day of the procedure to confirm the location within the liver where the radiation particles have been deposited. For the next week you may experience a low-grade fever, lethargy, or fatigue. Pain is not a common side effect of the procedure.
How long does Y90 last?
With this procedure, radioactive (Y90) resin or glass-based particles are delivered by catheter and provide a continuing radiation dose for approximately three and a half weeks to targeted tissues. The results typically are documented via imaging three and six months out.
What type of radiation is Y90?
Y90 is a pure beta-particle-emitter with a physical half-life of 64.2 hours, 0.94 MeV decay energy, and an average penetrative depth of 2.4mm in human tissue.
Can radiation shrink liver tumors?
Liver cancer radiation treatment involves the use of high-energy rays that are precisely targeted to destroy cancerous cells and shrink tumors. However, external beam radiation therapy, which is a common form of radiation treatment for other types of cancer, is not usually recommended for treating liver cancer.
How is Y90 mapping done?
How it's done: Radioembolization requires at least two treatment sessions. The first session is a mapping angiogram, where a catheter is passed into the liver artery from the groin and angiography is used to “map out” all the arteries in the liver circulation.
What is Y-90 SIRT?
What is Radioembolization (Y-90 SIRT)? Radioembolization, also called Y-90 Selective Internal Radiation Therapy (SIRT), is a minimally invasive liver-directed therapy for liver cancer that either arises from the liver (primary liver cancer or hepatocellular carcinoma) or has metastasized to the liver from other organs most commonly ...
What is the number for Y-90 SIRT?
Helping our patients get the care they need to live happy, healthy lives is our top priority at US Oncology. Call us at 855.870.4747 if you want to learn more about Y -90 SIRT treatment, or if you want to learn more about our locations, physicians, or insurance coverage.
What is the liver in radiation therapy?
Radioembolization combines the localized delivery of radiation therapy in the form of tiny beads and embolization to treat patients with liver cancer. The liver is unique because it has two blood supplies—the hepatic artery and the portal vein. The normal liver receives about 75 percent of its blood supply through the portal vein ...
How long does a radioactive microsphere stay in the artery?
After the catheter has been advanced into the artery that supplies the blood flow to the tumor (s), the radioactive microspheres are injected into the artery before reaching the tumor (s) where they will lodge and emit radiation for about two weeks.
How long does it take for a tumor to decay?
The whole procedure may take around 60–90 minutes.
Why is it important to treat liver cancer?
The liver is the most common site for the spread of this cancer which is why it is so important to treat the cancer there to prevent further spread beyond the liver. Patients with colorectal liver cancer whose liver metastases cannot be removed by surgery are ...
Can liver cancer be treated with radiation?
This typically happens after one treatment but treatments can be repeated if necessary to achieve complete tumor destruction. The targeted nature and high level of precision of this therapy enable doctors to deliver more radiation to the liver tumors than would be possible using conventional external beam radiotherapy.
What is Y-90 radiation?
At Garnet Health, our oncology team performs the Yttrium 90 (Y-90) radio ablation, otherwise known as radioembolization, a minimally invasive interventional radiology procedure that combines embolization and radiation therapy to help fight liver cancer.
How does Yttrium 90 work?
Yttrium 90 (Y90) for Cancer Treatment 1 Embolization: a minimally invasive treatment in which blood vessels or malformations within blood vessels are occluded, or blocked off, to prevent blood flow. 2 Radiation therapy: the use of a certain type of energy, called ionizing radiation, to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors.
What is X-ray imaging?
Using X-ray imaging, the radiologist and oncologist are able to visualize the blood vessels and effectively deliver a pinpoint dose directly to the intended location - killing cancer cells, shrinking the tumor and preserving healthy tissue.
What is the treatment for a tumor?
Embolization: a minimally invasive treatment in which blood vessels or malformations within blood vessels are occluded, or blocked off, to prevent blood flow. Radiation therapy: the use of a certain type of energy, called ionizing radiation, to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors.
Where are radioactive beads injected?
During this image-guided, minimally invasive procedure, millions of microscopic beads of radioactive isotope are injected into hepatic artery and the blood vessels that feed the tumor. These beads become lodged at the tumor site delivering the indented dose of radiation.
Is radiation therapy invasive?
The procedure is also minimally invasive, meaning that no surgical incision or consequential post-operative stitching or extensive recovery is needed. In some cases, it may allow for more curative options such as chemotherapy or surgery to be incorporated within the patient's treatment plan.
What is Y-90 in Bethesda?
Y-90 is a treatment option available at Bethesda Hospital East for patients with liver cancer. SIR-Spheres® microspheres are tiny particles, about one-third the width of a human hair, that contain the radioactive isotope yttrium-90, or Y-90, and can be delivered directly to liver tumors. Bethesda is one of only 12 cancer centers in Florida, ...
How to treat liver tumors?
Many times, surgery is the first-line treatment for liver tumors. Another common treatment is chemotherapy, delivered systemically through the blood stream, or internally directly to the liver. Several criteria are used to determine if a patient is a candidate for Y-90, such as the level of liver function.
Is Y-90 a good treatment for liver tumors?
As the use of Y-90 microspheres continues to grow and more data is available, it may become part of the standard first line of treatment for liver tumors. Current studies are exploring the combination of standard systemic chemotherapy with selective internal radiation.
Description
This clinical trial studies the side effects and best way to perform yttrium Y-90 radioembolization in treating patients with liver cancer that has spread to other places in the body (metastatic).
Locations & Contacts
See trial information on ClinicalTrials.gov for a list of participating sites.
Trial Objectives and Outline
I. To evaluate the feasibility and safety of same day yttrium-90 radioembolization planning and treatment angiography.
What is Y 90?
Jeremy McBride, M.D., an interventional radiologist with Mayo Clinic Health System, suggested a minimally invasive radiation treatment known as Y-90 to strategically attack the tumors invading Turnbull’s liver. The treatment works by injecting tiny particles into the arteries feeding the tumors with blood.
When was Turnbull's liver treated?
To minimize the risk of injury to Turnbull’s liver, Dr. McBride treated half of the liver at a time. The first treatment was in July 2016, the second in October. Follow-up scans thus far have shown positive results, Dr. McBride says.
What You Can Expect After the Y-90 Procedure
After the procedure is completed, patients will recover in a separate room of the treatment center for approximately 2 to 6 hours. During that time, patients must keep their leg (the site of the catheter insertion) still to lower the risk of bleeding.
Side Effects of Radioembolization (Y-90)
Side effects of radioembolization (Y-90) are typically mild as the procedure is generally very well tolerated. However, if side effects occur, they are usually transient and most patients resume normal activities within a few days.
Precautions to Take After Y-90 Treatment
Since patients will have received a radioactive treatment, there are a few simple precautions to take following the procedure.
Minimally Invasive Liver Cancer Treatments in New York
Because the liver is extremely sensitive to radiation damage, radioembolization (Y-90) allows patients with liver cancer to receive effective treatment without causing significant damage to healthy tissue.
Minimally Invasive Cancer Treatment for Tumors – Y90, Chemoembolization, and Ablation
The Interventional Radiology team at Rochester Regional Health offers the full spectrum of minimally invasive interventional treatments for liver cancer, including Y90 radioembolization (as well as other procedures such as chemoembolization and ablations).
Y90 Radioembolization
Y90 radioembolization is a minimally invasive procedure allows the direct delivery of tiny radioactive particles directly into liver tumors, destroying cancer cells from within the tumor while minimizing the damage to surrounding tissue.
Chemoembolization
Chemoembolization is a minimally invasive procedure performed by an interventional radiologist that directly targets tumors in the liver. It is similar to Y90 but works on slightly different principles. It works by dual but complimentary means, first injecting chemotherapy directly into the tumor, and then stopping the blood supply to the tumor.
Tumor Ablation
Finally, our IR division also has an active tumor ablation program. This treatment is different than Y90 and chemoembolization is that, simply put, tumor ablation is a procedure where ultrasound or CT imaging is used to place a probe directly into the tumor. If you have had a biopsy, this process of placing the probe is nearly identical.
Call the Interventional Radiology Team Today
The Interventional Radiology team at Rochester Regional Health works with your other cancer physicians to offer minimally invasive Y90 radioembolization as a treatment option for liver tumors. Call today to schedule your consultation.
How many cases of liver cancer are diagnosed each year?
For patients with a primary or metastatic liver cancer diagnosis, the treatment road ahead can be both long and arduous. Unfortunately, a bout 18,500 cases of liver cancer are diagnosed each year.
Is Y90 a cure for cancer?
Y90 is not a cure, but it can significantly slow the growth of the disease and provide relief of some symptoms.
Is liver cancer inoperable?
Treatment is often made difficult because liver tumors are often inoperable and chemotherapy drugs have been ineffective in curing liver cancer. But there’s some good news, in the form of new image-guided treatment options at Radiology of Indiana that can extend and improve the quality of life.
When was Y-90 first used?
FULL STORY. Interventional radiologists have been the leaders in the use of intra-arterial yttrium-90 radioembolization, since its introduction in 2000, to treat liver cancer. Now, new results from a large multi-institutional study show that treating liver tumors with higher doses of Y-90 than previously tried is safe, ...
Where are Y-90 microspheres injected?
With the Y-90 radioembolization treatment, the microspheres are injected through a catheter from the groin into the liver artery supplying the tumor. The beads become lodged within the tumor vessels where they exert their local radiation that causes cell death.
Why are liver tumors inoperable?
Liver tumors are often inoperable because the tumors may be too large or numerous or have grown into major blood vessels or other vital structures. Historically, chemotherapy drugs become less effective as the disease progresses," he added.
Why did the Nuclear Regulatory Commission change its guidelines?
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission recently changed its guidelines in order to create a specific pathway for interventional radiologists to become authorized users. Last month in Arizona, 106 participants attended the SIR's Y-90 course, developed to ensure that SIR members not only meet but exceed these requirements.
Is Y-90 safe for liver cancer?
Now, new results from a large multi-institutional study show that treating liver tumors with higher doses of Y-90 than previously tried is safe , provides results when chemotherapies have failed, preserves the patient's quality of life -- and can be done on an outpatient basis.
Does liver tissue help tumors?
Nov. 25, 2019 — A study discovered that healthy liver tissue surrounding a tumor activates a defense mechanism that restrains tumor growth . Remarkably, the researchers found that hyperactivation of this mechanism ...
Is radioembolization a curative treatment?
Radioembolization is a palliative, not a curative, treatment -- but patients benefit by having their lives extended and experiencing fewer side effects (such as the fatigue that can last for seven to 10 days after standard cancer therapy).
Y90 Treatment at Columbia Interventional Radiology
What Can I Expect from The Procedure?
- One to two weeks before the delivery of the Y90 to the liver tumors, you will have appointments with your interventional radiologist, who will test your blood and perform an angiogram—an imaging procedure in which dye is injected into the bloodstream and X-ray images are taken. This will produce images of the blood vessels that are feeding the tumor or tumors. A map of the blo…
Are There Any Risks?
- The procedure is relatively safe when performed by an experienced interventional radiologist. Major complications include: 1. Post-embolization syndrome consisting of consisting of pain, nausea, and low-grade fever 2. Irritation of the stomach or small intestine, including ulcers 3. Fatigue, which is typically significant and can last from a few days to a few weeks
After The Procedure
- Most patients are scheduled early in the day in our outpatient office and recover in their own private room, going home in the afternoon. Imaging is performed on the day of the procedure to confirm the location within the liver where the radiation particles have been deposited. For the next week you may experience a low-grade fever, lethargy, or fatigue. Pain is not a common sid…
Follow Up
- We will schedule a follow up appointment with you about two weeks after the procedure. Chemotherapy can typically be restarted one to two weeks after the procedure. Follow up imaging, such as CT, MRI, or PET CT, is usually performed approximately eight weeks after the procedure.
Locations
- Our interventional radiologists perform Y90 treatment in safe and comfortable outpatient offices. We have locations in Manhattan and Westchester.