Transarterial radioembolization to treat primary or secondary liver cancer, D Schnappauf

International Cancer Imaging Society October 2017.
www.icimagingsociety.org.uk/
D. Schnapauff
Charité, Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Departement of Radiology, Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353 Berlin, Germany
Hepatic radioembolization is a relatively new and developing modality for treating non-resectable primary or secondary liver tumours. Yttrium-90 coated microspheres are transarterially injected via a microcatheter into the hepatic artery. Preferential uptake into liver tumours is achieved by the predominant hepatic arterial supply whereas healthy liver tissue is predominantly perfused by the portal vein.
Radioembolization is currently indicated in patients with advanced tumour burden in a palliative situation with hepatocellular carcinoma, colorectal or neuroendocrine liver metastasis. Patients should have liver-dominant tumour burden and the liver must be estimated the life expectancy limiting organ.
First randomised trials like the SIRFLOX-trial investigating Y-90 microspheres in patients with previously untreated metastatic colorectal cancer did not an improvement of overall survival but a significantly delayed disease progression in the liver. Data of the SORAMIC-trial evaluating sorafenib ± Y-90 microspheres are not yet published, safety data published showed that the combination appears to be as well tolerated as sorafenib alone.
The presentation will discuss technical requirements for radioembolization and its current clinical role in multimodal treatment of cancer.

[@livinggoodnatural8984]

Why not do the surgery, cut off the part of the cancer cells and let the patients live? If you do this, the patients only live for 3 months, then I don't think it's worthy for trouble and the sufferings. The patients might just go ahead and do the "natural cure" and probably will get much better result.

[@iprateek07]

Hepatocellular ca is agressive plus there is a feild defect , plus it occurs in a damaged liver, even after surgery these patients live lesser than 3 months , plus doing surgery in liver compromised patients kills >30% of the patients with surgery itself . These are only a minority of the reasons TARE has a role over surgery in this specific subset. Surgery definetly has a role in HCC , but thats a big different subject