New Treatment Method Prolongs Liver Cancer Patients’ Lives

The Bach Mai and Military 108 hospitals in Hanoi have successfully used a new method called selective internal radiation therapy (SIRT) Spheres Y-90, to treat liver tumour. The new treatment is reportedly helping to prolong the lives of liver cancer patients in Vietnam. SIR-Spheres Y-90 resin microspheres are used in an interventional radiology procedure known as selective internal radiation (SIRT), or radioembolisation, which targets high doses of radiation at the liver tumor directly. The microspheres are injected by the millions into the liver tumor via its main vein, where they become stuck in the small blood vessels in and around the tumor. The microspheres emit high doses of radiation at the tumor cells to destroy them. Bach Mai Hospital Deputy Director Mai Trong Khoa said the technique was safer and more effective than other radioactive therapies for liver cancer treatment that are currently being used in Vietnam. "More than 50 patients with liver tumors have been treated successfully with the technique, which has helped to prolong their lives by eight to 20.5 months," Khoa said. Introduced in Vietnam in 2013, the therapy will help save time and treatment costs and will improve the quality of life of liver cancer patients in Vietnam. According to GLOBOCAN 2012, liver cancer is the number one cause of deaths among different types of cancer for both men and women, with 21,997 new cases and 20,920 deaths in Vietnam in 2012. Every year, about 150,000 new cancer cases are registered in Vietnam, and more than 75,000 die from the disease. (Vietnam News June 30)