Capital Health physicians are licensed to offer a new FDA-approved treatment to patients with colorectal cancer that has metastasized to the liver. The treatment uses small beads containing radiation that are injected directly into the tumor. SIR-Spheres® microspheres are a medical device used in Selective Internal Radiation Therapy (SIRT). By directing high doses of radiation precisely into the tumor, healthy liver tissue can be preserved.
Selective Internal Radiation Therapy (SIRT), also known as radioembolization, is a proven technology for inoperable liver cancer that delivers doses of radiation directly to the site of tumors. In a minimally invasive same-day procedure, millions of radioactive SIR-Spheres microspheres are infused via a catheter into the liver where they selectively target liver tumors with a dose of internal radiation up to 40 times higher than conventional radiotherapy, while sparing healthy tissue.
SIR-Spheres are extremely small resin beads (about one-third the diameter of a strand of hair) which contain radioactive yttrium-90 (Y-90). A study of the safety and efficacy of SIR-Spheres was released at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's 2013 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.