The method – an interventional radiology treatment using intra-arterial yttrium-90 (Y-90) microspheres – has been carried out at Bach Mai Hospital and Military Central Hospital 108.
Prof. Dr Mai Trong Khoa, deputy director of Bach Mai and director of the Nuclear Medicine and Oncology Center, said that the number of liver cancer patients is on the rise in Vietnam.
Therefore, increasing demand for treatment of this cancer has long been a big challenge for the health sector to overcome, he said.
Dr. Khoa confirmed that the new technique is safe and has a high rate of effectiveness while not causing complications or accidents during and after treatment.
The treatment using Y-90 on these four patients has had encouraging results and those who have undergone it have been discharged in better health conditions without any complications, he said.
In the treatment, Yttrium-90 (Y-90) microspheres are put in the liver artery that leads to the tumor. When they are close to the tumor, these microspheres generate radioactive rays that kill the tumor’s cancerous cells. Such rays also prevent blood from circulating to the tumor, cutting off its source of nutrients, thus killing the tumor.
This is a selected treatment as these microspheres only target cancerous cells and have no impact on normal cells, Dr. Khoa said.
It is difficult to apply this method and only a limited number of countries can use it successfully, he said, adding that so far in Vietnam, only the two above-mentioned hospitals have successfully applied this method.
This method requires a combination of many medical specialties and advanced medical equipment. Therefore the cost of treatment using this method is rather high and health insurance does not yet cover it, Dr. Khoa said.
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