A recent study has found that a procedure using embolization particles to block blood vessels is one of the areas that will grow the fastest in the transcatheter embolization and occlusion market in the treatment of liver cancer this year.
According to Millennium Research Group (MRG), a medical technology research firm, radioembolization is expected to grow from $50 million in sales in 2011 to $128 million in 2015, while drug-eluting beads (DEBs) will grow from $11 million to $28 million over the same period.
Radioembolization, a minimally invasive treatment in which blood vessels or malformations within blood vessels are occluded, or blocked off, to prevent blood flow, is used with patients who do not respond to chemotherapy.
Radioembolization is a combination of radiation therapy and a procedure called embolization to treat cancer of the liver. Radioembolization treatments offer physicians and patients the benefit of localized radiation therapy that has demonstrated effectiveness in extending time-to-progression in more advanced liver cancer stages.
Embolization particles, which include DEBs for radioembolization procedures, are used in the treatment of primary and metastatic liver cancer among patients who do not qualify for surgical resection of the tumor or chemotherapy. Transarterial DEB-TACE is a new treatment modality for liver cancer.
Radioembolization is a combination of radiation therapy and a procedure called embolization to treat cancer of the liver. Radioembolization treatments offer physicians and patients the benefit of localized radiation therapy that has demonstrated effectiveness in extending time-to-progression in more advanced liver cancer stages.
The treatment of liver cancer has evolved over the years to include options such as ablation, conventional transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (cTACE) and targeted therapeutics such as Sorafenib (used to treat advanced liver and kidney cancer), where resection and transplantation is not an option. DEB-TACE has been found to be superior to cTACE procedures, providing superior efficacy and safety.
Radioembolization spheres are glass microspheres containing the isotope Yttrium-90 that emit radiation for approximately 10 days and are able to penetrate approximately 10 mm into the surrounding tissue after being delivered to the liver. As of 2011, only Sirtex Medical and Nordion offer radioembolization spheres in the United States, Nordion as TheraSphere and Sirtex as SIR-Sphere, but MRG expects rapid adoption of these devices, due to their specific benefits.
Drug-eluting beads are similar to radioembolization spheres in that both devices allow for more targeted treatments delivered to the site of the tumor itself than systemic chemotherapy. While not yet approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the beads can be acquired and loaded with drugs at the pharmacy at physician request, leading to an increasing amount of off-label use. FDA approval is anticipated before 2015.
Deborah DiSesa Hirsch is an award-winning health and technology writer who has worked for newspapers, magazines and IBM in her 20-year career. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.Edited by
Jennifer Russell
