SELECTIVE RADIATION ZAPS INOPERABLE LIVER TUMORS Vanderbilt researchers say the newest treatment for inoperable liver tumors is Selective Internal Radiation Therapy, which targets a very high radiation beam at the malignant masses. The procedure uses biocompatible radioactive microspheres that contain yttrium-90 and emit high energy beta radiation. "The liver doesn't tolerate external beam radiation in sufficient doses to affect tumor without damaging the remaining good liver," says Dr. C. Wright Pinson, lead researcher. "These spheres emit radiation for a short distance, less than a centimeter. If you can cluster radiation right around the tumor, the radiation exposure at the tumor site compared to normal liver is favorable." The spheres are implanted using a catheter placed in the artery feeding the liver and travel via the blood stream. They are trapped in the small blood vessels of the tumor but physicians do not have to identify the number or location of tumors because the spheres target the cancerous growth. The spheres then destroy the tumor without affecting most of the normal liver tissue. UPI Thanks to ArcMax.com Radiology, 10/03 University of Florida, February 2001 Three-dimensional Sonography in Liver Ablation Radifrequency Ablation & Stage Results Early and Late Recurrence After Radiofrequency Ablation 5% Dextrose Decreases Postprocedural Pain LINK to information on liver diseases Abstract # 3127 ASCO, 2004 JAMA, 7/04 Molecular & Cellular Biology, 12/04 Intl J Pharmacognosy Euro J Cancer Prevention, 12/04 J Clin Pharm & Therap J Hepatology, 1/07 Hepatology, August 2007 World J of Gastroenterology, October 2007 Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol, April 2008 Remember we are NOT Doctors and have NO medical training. This site is like an Encylopedia - there are many pages, many links on many topics. Support our work with any size DONATION - see left side of any page - for how to donate. You can help raise awareness of CAM.