In terms of volume, Cooper\u00a0is among the top six hospitals\u00a0in the Northeast performing\u00a0SIRSpheres Y90 radioembolization, a minimally\u00a0invasive procedure that combines\u00a0embolization and radiation\u00a0therapy to treat both primary\u00a0and metastatic hepatocellular\u00a0cancer. Importantly, this means\u00a0a growing number of patients\u00a0have had\u2014and continue to\u00a0have\u2014access to a treatment\u00a0that\u2019s been shown to extend survival and\u00a0improve quality of life.<\/p>\n
With radioembolization, tiny glass\u00a0or resin beads filled with the radioactive\u00a0isotope yttrium-90 (Y90) are placed inside\u00a0the blood vessels that feed a tumor. This\u00a0allows the beads to be delivered directly\u00a0by the blood supplying the cancer cells\u00a0and delivers a high dose of radiation to the tumor while sparing nearby normal tissue.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile this procedure is not\u00a0considered curative, it has been shown\u00a0to allow the liver to survive about eight\u00a0months longer than with conventional\u00a0chemotherapy and can often allow patients\u00a0to become surgical candidates when they\u00a0weren\u2019t before\u201d says board-certified\u00a0interventional radiologist Sabina Amin,\u00a0MD, who works with oncologists at the\u00a0MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper to provide this state-of-the-art treatment.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had some great successes; we\u00a0now have patients who we have halted\u00a0progression of their disease in the liver,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n
The Y90 radioembolization procedure\u00a0is indicated for treating inoperative liver\u00a0tumors in patients with liver-dominant or liver-only tumors.<\/p>\n
\u201cPatients can have metastasis in other\u00a0parts of the body as long as there are liver-dominant\u00a0tumors,\u201d Dr. Amin explains. She\u00a0notes that Cooper has seen good results in\u00a0treating cholangiocarcinoma, breast, renal,\u00a0neuroendocrine, pancreatic, colorectal, and ovarian cancers that have metastasized to\u00a0the liver, as well as primary hepatocellular\u00a0carcinoma. Y90 radioembolization has\u00a0been shown to be effective in treating\u00a0metastatic uveal melanoma, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt also allows for patients\u00a0to undergo chemotherapy\u00a0concurrently,\u201d she continues,\u00a0\u201cso we\u2019re not putting all our\u00a0eggs in one basket. Instead, we\u00a0can double down on the cancer in the liver.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr. Amin notes that\u00a0radioembolization enables\u00a0physicians to radiate the tumor\u00a0at a higher dose than can be\u00a0delivered externally. \u201cThe\u00a0radioactive isotope Y90 only\u00a0penetrates 2.5 mm, sparing skin, bone\u00a0and, often, normal liver tissue,\u201d she says.\u00a0\u201cAnd we can retreat if new tumors appear, without the systemic effects of chemo.\u201d<\/p>\n
She also points out that while there\u00a0are other options for treating liver cancer\u2014\u00a0including systemic chemotherapy, external\u00a0beam radiation, stereotactic radiosurgery\u00a0(CyberKnife\u00ae), or surgery, including\u00a0transplantation\u2014these are not always appropriate for every patient.<\/p>\n
\u201cY90 radioembolization allows for\u00a0progression-free survival within the liver,\u00a0giving patients statistically significant\u00a0improvement in survival and allowing\u00a0them to maintain their quality of life\u00a0and potentially stay on chemotherapy or qualify for surgical resection,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n
This treatment is a collaboration\u00a0between Cooper \u2019s Interventional\u00a0Radiology Department and the team\u00a0at the MD Anderson Cancer Center at\u00a0Cooper. Cooper was the first hospital\u00a0in South Jersey to offer SIRSpheres\u00a0Y90 radioembolization nearly two years\u00a0ago and today ranks among the top U.S.\u00a0hospitals to offer it in terms of volume\u2014a\u00a0testament to the expertise that resides\u00a0here. The other high-volume centers\u00a0include Massachusetts\u00a0General Hospital,\u00a0NYU Langone\u00a0Medical Center,\u00a0New York-Presbyterian,\u00a0NYP\/Columbia\u00a0University\u00a0Medical Center,\u00a0and Thomas Jefferson\u00a0University Hospital.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe would be happy to evaluate\u00a0patients in our clinic to determine if they\u00a0are a candidate for Y90 radioembolization,\u201d\u00a0Dr. Amin says. \u201cReferring physicians don\u2019t\u00a0have to be part of the Cooper system, nor\u00a0do patients have to be seen by an MD\u00a0Anderson Cancer Center oncologist to obtain this treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are here to work in collaboration\u00a0with community physicians and to make\u00a0this life-extending treatment accessible to as many patients as possible,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n
For questions about Y90 radioembolization or to refer a patient, Dr. Amin can be reached at: amin-sabina@cooperhealth.edu or by phone at 856.342.3094.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In terms of volume, Cooper\u00a0is among the top six hospitals\u00a0in the Northeast performing\u00a0SIRSpheres Y90 radioembolization, a minimally\u00a0invasive procedure that combines\u00a0embolization and radiation\u00a0therapy to treat both primary\u00a0and metastatic hepatocellular\u00a0cancer. Importantly, this means\u00a0a growing number of patients\u00a0have had\u2014and continue to\u00a0have\u2014access to a treatment\u00a0that\u2019s been shown to extend survival and\u00a0improve quality of life. With radioembolization, tiny glass\u00a0or resin … [Read more…]<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,161],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"entry","1":"post","2":"publish","3":"author-rmineo","4":"post-1746","6":"format-standard","7":"category-news-updates","8":"category-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/sjmedicalreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1746","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/sjmedicalreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/sjmedicalreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/sjmedicalreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/sjmedicalreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1746"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/sjmedicalreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1746\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1747,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/sjmedicalreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1746\/revisions\/1747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/sjmedicalreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/sjmedicalreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/sjmedicalreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}