ISSN: 2044-9038 (Print) 2044-9046 (Electronic)

Clinical Practice

Radioembolization

 Radioembolization may be a combination of radiotherapy and a procedure called embolization to treat cancer of the liver.  Embolization is a minimally invasive treatment in which blood vessels or malformations within blood vessels are occluded, or blocked off, to prevent blood flow.  Radiation therapy is the use of a certain type of energy, called ionizing radiation, to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. In contrast to external beam therapy (EBT), during which high-vitality x-beam bars created by a machine are aimed at the tumours from outside the body, radioembolization includes setting a material straightforwardly inside the body. This form of treatment is named internal radiotherapy.  In radioembolization, tiny glass or resin beads called microspheres are placed inside the blood vessels that feed a tumor so as to dam the availability of blood to the cancer cells. Once these microspheres, which are crammed with the radioactive isotope yttrium Y-90, become lodged at the tumor site, they deliver a high dose of radiation to the tumor and not to normal tissues.  Radioembolization is employed to treat tumors that were initially formed within the liver or have spread (or metastasized) to the liver from another a part of the body. It is a palliative treatment, which suggests it doesn't provide a cure but instead helps hamper the expansion of the disease and alleviate symptoms. The procedure is an option for patients who aren't candidates for other treatments, including surgery or liver transplantation.

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