Y-90 Radioembolization

Y-90 radioembolization delivers radiotherapy to liver tumours from the inside, through the bloodstream. Millions of microscopic glass or resin spheres carrying the radioactive isotope yttrium-90 are injected into the artery that feeds the tumour, where they lodge in its small vessels and irradiate it from within over about two weeks. Because liver tumours draw almost all of their blood from the hepatic artery while healthy liver tissue is supplied mainly by the portal vein, the treatment concentrates a high radiation dose in the tumour and spares much of the surrounding liver. It is used when tumours cannot be removed surgically, to control disease, to relieve symptoms and sometimes to shrink a tumour enough for surgery or transplantation to become possible.