New Hope in Targeting Tumors


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Valparaiso Campus
814 LaPorte Avenue
Valparaiso, IN 46383
Phone: 219-263-4600

From the Summer 2011 StayHealthy publication

Only at Porter, new treatment for liver cancer

Once again, John Scott is looking forward to summer… backyard barbecues, heading to the east coast to visit family and friends, and even mowing the grass – things he couldn’t enjoy last summer. Diagnosed with cancer three years ago, Scott had endured chemotherapy for many months, yet the cancer in his liver was resisting treatment. He was running out of options – until this year.

That was when his oncologist referred him to Porter and Interventional Radiologist Amjad Alkadri, MD. In January Porter became the first – and only – hospital in Northwest Indiana to offer Selective Internal Radiation Therapy (SIRT). This innovative cancer treatment targets cancer from the inside out, using tiny microspheres to deliver a high dose of targeted radiation therapy directly to the tumor. Scott became Porter’s first patient.

Within weeks, Porter’s team of interventional radiologists and nuclear medical specialists had prepared Scott for his first SIRT treatment. Alkadri performed the procedure, which involves guiding a small catheter to the liver and releasing tiny microspheres directly to the tumor, where they become lodged in the small vessels feeding the tumor. Each microsphere is about one-third the diameter of a strand of hair, yet it can deliver up to 40 times the amount of radiation as conventional radiation therapy – without damaging surrounding tissues.

For me, the procedure was simple. A non-event. All I needed to do was show up and lie still,” says Scott, who returned to his Valparaiso home the same day as his procedure, with no side effects other than feeling a little worn out. The positive effects of the SIRT microspheres continue working for several weeks.

Though SIRT offers reasons for optimism, Alkadri reminds that “We’re not providing a cure, but we’re controlling the disease. It’s a new hope for patients. We are seeing patients with complete resolution of tumors. Plus, we can repeat the treatment without damaging surrounding tissues,” he says.

Today Scott is pleased to report that two of his three liver tumors appear to have disappeared and the third has been reduced by about 99 percent. He’s been able to reduce his chemotherapy treatments by more than half and hopes to discontinue chemotherapy in the near future.

Just as exciting, he’s free of the overwhelming side effects of cancer treatment. “I’d lost my sense of taste with chemotherapy. At a certain point, you just don’t eat because food tastes terrible,” says Scott. “Now even hot dogs are good if you can taste them,” he said.

And Scott is just the beginning, says Alkadri. “SIRT has been a revolutionary treatment option for people with stage 4 cancer who may have no other options. It’s added a very strong tool in our arsenal,” says Alkadri, who had seen SIRT’s success in larger national hospitals. “This is the kind of therapy typically offered at really big health centers and university hospitals mostly. We’re one of the very few smaller private hospitals in the nation to offer this,” he says.

SIRT can be used for patients with liver cancer or other cancer which has spread to the liver, says Alkadri, as long as the liver is otherwise healthy. Extensive advanced planning is necessary to map the location of the tumor as well as the surrounding vessels. “It’s a highly specialized procedure and we work together as a team with the cath[eteriztion] lab, interventional radiology and others to make sure we get the best result,” he says. The procedure is covered by insurance.

To learn more, visit porterhealth.com.