Most procedures are provided on an outpatient basis. However, some may require an overnight hospital stay. These procedures are ideal for patients whose cancers are inoperable or cannot undergo chemotherapy.
Treatment options include Chemoembolization, Radioembolization (also called Selective Internal Radiation Therapy or SIRT) and Radiofrequency Ablation.
Chemoembolization is a targeted treatment approach that simultaneously delivers cancer-fighting drugs (chemotherapy) along with nutrient-blocking synthetic materials (embolic agents) directly to the blood vessels that feed a liver tumor. This powerful combination ensures the cancer-fighting drugs are contained in the liver and do not affect any other healthy tissues or organs. It also cuts off any blood supply to the tumor, preventing its growth.
Radioembolization is a targeted treatment approach, which combines radiation therapy that uses tiny glass beads filled with a radioactive isotope to kill cancer cells in the liver with embolization that prevents blood flow to these cancerous cells. This one-two punch of radiation and cutting off the supply of nutrients to targeted cancer cells, allows us to slow down their growth and help alleviate symptoms—killing only the diseased cells and sparing the healthy ones.
Radiofrequency Ablation, also known as RFA, is a minimally invasive, image-guided treatment technique that uses high-frequency electrical currents and an electrode to heat and destroy cancer cells. During this procedure, imaging techniques such as Ultrasound, Computed Tomography (CT) or Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) are used to help guide a needle electrode into the cancerous tumor. High-frequency electrical currents are then passed through the electrode, creating heat that destroys cancer cells.
