Mico spheres

I have cancer tumors on my liver & i have had 12 chemo treatments starting
last april.My doctor says they are looking into radioactive micro sphere
treatment. Has anybody had this done or heard the good or the bad about
it.I`m a male,54 yrs old .....thanks all....Bob

Robert wrote:

> I have cancer tumors on my liver & i have had 12 chemo treatments starting
> last april.My doctor says they are looking into radioactive micro sphere
> treatment. Has anybody had this done or heard the good or the bad about
> it.I`m a male,54 yrs old .....thanks all....Bob

Hello Bob,
"IrishFolker's" wife had one lobe done Dec/05 and the other done Jan/06 for
recurrent mets to the liver.
She had gallbladder cancer. The original mets were dealt with by removing a
sliver from the liver and surgery to remove both ovaries. I think he posted
that it reduced the size of the liver recurrences and therefore made her feel
better. She passed away in July. He may contact you.
The summary of her cancer is here http://tinyurl.com/yjj6fk
Her cancer was gallbladder cancer and if I recall it was caught earlier,
because it usually carries a worse prognosis (live less long). I think he
said it was done at UMM but I don't know where that is. Apparently they paved
the way for insurance(s?) to cover it. Theirs was called Sirpheres, possible
University of Maryland Medical Center. micro polymer beads that have
radioactive material inside them.
If you click on his post, then "More options" or "view options", then click on
the line below his email address, Google will walk you through how to get his
email address if you wish to email him.

The micro beads are delivered to the tumor through a catheter placed into the
artery that supplies blood to the liver. By using micro beads, treatment can
be sent directly to the tumor without affecting the entire body. Usually,
there will be two infusions -- one each to the right and left lobes of the
liver. There is a minimum four-week wait between infusions.

You might want to ask on the colorectal mail list about their experiences.
http://www.acor.org/mailing.html?l=c

I suppose it's convenient instead of having multiple sessions of RT for
various liver mets over weeks.
Initially it was meant for a different type, a primary liver cancer, where
there's usually only one tumour and which does not spread.
It says that overnight stay is expected since sedation is given
http://www.umgcc.org/sir-spheres/faq.html

Ask others at ACOR (above).
Ask them where (close to you).
Ask them who had it done, but had to have RT done later for more mets and how
soon after.
It's best to weigh the benefits of each for your situation.
Please keep in touch and let us know how it's going.
J

"Robert" <rhokenson@chartermi.net> wrote in message
news:mfF5h.4$ke3.3@newsfe04.lga...
>I have cancer tumors on my liver & i have had 12 chemo treatments starting
>last april.My doctor says they are looking into radioactive micro sphere
>treatment. Has anybody had this done or heard the good or the bad about
>it.I`m a male,54 yrs old .....thanks all....Bob
>

It can certainly be done, but that's not the issue.
What are you hoping it would achieve?

Steph wrote:

> "Robert" <rhokenson@chartermi.net> wrote in message
> >I have cancer tumors on my liver & i have had 12 chemo treatments starting
> >last april.My doctor says they are looking into radioactive micro sphere
> >treatment. Has anybody had this done or heard the good or the bad about
> >it.I`m a male,54 yrs old .....thanks all....Bob
> >
>
> It can certainly be done, but that's not the issue.
> What are you hoping it would achieve?

It only seems to do one tumor at a time.
J

Hi Bob.

J summed it up pretty well. It was done at the University of Maryland
in Baltimore, Md. The procedure can be used against multiple tumors,
but the cutoff is generally 4 or 5, if I recall correctly. Bonnie had
5, some in each lobe. They did them one lobe at a time (2 separate
procedures). Side effects were mild, with a very warm feeling inside
(she said it was quite odd), but the really wild thing was the fact
that she was radioactive for a while. I was supposed to stay 3 feet
away from her for 3 days. We weren't supposed to sleep in the same bed
for that period and she wasn't supposed to see small children for a
month. After a few days had passed from the first treatment, she felt
better than she had in months. Unfortunately, the benefits were
short-lived. When the tumors came back, there were dozens of small
ones scattered "like buckshot."

I wish you all the best of luck with your treatment. If you have any
questions that I can try to answer, ask away. I'll keep an eye on this
thread.

Jeff