Over 100,000 people treated with life-changing liver cancer therapy
This year, TheraSphere™ Y-90 Glass Microspheres — a selective internal radiation therapy (SIRT) consisting of radioactive yttrium-90 (Y-90) glass microspheres — celebrates its 20th anniversary, having first been made available to treat patients in 2005. Since its launch, TheraSphere has changed the way liver cancers are treated, helping more than 100,000 patients worldwide and over 30,000 patients in the EMEA region.1
Today, TheraSphere downstages hepatocellular carcinoma, the most common type of liver cancer. This means patients can be treated to reduce the tumour burden to allow for potential surgery, which in some cases may be curative.
Personalised tumour dosing improves outcomes
The progression from palliative to potentially curative treatments has been partly due to advancements in therapy optimisation, which allows the delivery of high doses of treatment to the tumour while limiting healthy tissue exposure. Studies have shown that this approach, known as personalised dosimetry, can double response and survival outcomes for patients with hepatic cellular carcinoma.2
Growing body of evidence for TheraSphere Y-90 continues to transform clinical practice
TheraSphere is supported by more than 40 investigator-led studies and extensive real-world data. The widely used Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) guidelines were updated in 2022 to include the use of SIRT treatments.3 The latest clinical study, PROACTIF, is the largest prospective, real-world study of primary liver cancer in more than 1,000 patients using TheraSphere Y-90 Glass Microspheres. Final results are expected soon and will add to the body of TheraSphere clinical evidence.
How TheraSphere Y-90 and radioembolisation works
TheraSphere microspheres are injected into an artery that supplies the liver, via a catheter. These radioactive microspheres lodge in the liver’s capillaries in and around the tumour, delivering radiation that kills the cancer cells. The treatment is delivered directly to liver tumours, resulting in an increased tumour response while preserving surrounding healthy tissue. Unlike systemic therapy for advanced liver cancer, which is given over a long period of time and can have persistent side effects, TheraSphere is a locally targeted one-off treatment.
By targeting the tumour directly through the arterial blood supply, TheraSphere minimises exposure to non-tumoural tissue. This precise approach allows for high-dose radiation where it’s needed most, enhancing efficacy while reducing toxicity.
“TheraSphere has transformed the treatment of liver cancer over the past 20 years, and continues to do so, not least due to the personalised dosimetry, meaning treatment is truly tailored to each patient, but also due to the administration via a minimally invasive procedure, meaning that patients require less time in hospital and recover quicker, and hospital resources can be used more effectively”, commented Kathleen Van Vlierberghe, vice president of Peripheral Interventions at Boston Scientific. “This progress in the care of liver cancer treatment is a testament not only to the physicians who have led the way with this therapy but also to the dedication and innovation of the team at Boston Scientific, who remain committed to advancing science to improve patient outcomes.”
Targeted therapy reducing the burden of liver cancer
Liver cancer is the sixth most common cancer worldwide and the third leading cause of cancer-related mortality globally. More than 866,000 new cases of liver cancer were diagnosed globally in 2022 and the number of new liver cancers will nearly double to 1.52 million in 2050 if there is no change in the current trend. Hepatocellular carcinoma, the most prevalent histological subtype of liver cancer, accounts for approximately 80% of all primary liver cancers.4
To learn more about the impact TheraSphere is having on the lives of people diagnosed with liver cancer, you can watch Martyn’s story: Eight years on from his liver cancer diagnosis, Martyn Griffiths is cancer free
Looking ahead, Boston Scientific remains committed to pushing the boundaries of innovation and improving patient care in liver cancer.