A new treatment for Liver Cancer developed by the University Medical
Center (UMC) Utrecht has received the European CE mark for quality and
safety. This implies that hospitals throughout Europe can now start
using this innovative treatment that uses radioactive holmium
microspheres to attack liver tumors. The treatment is being marketed by
Quirem Medical, a spin-off company of the UMC Utrecht.
It involves injecting radioactive beads into the hepatic artery,
which then join the blood flow and become trapped in the tiniest blood
vessels, located in and around the liver tumors. They therefore emit
their radiation close to the tumor. This type of radiation treatment is
also called radio-embolization.
The research group at UMC Utrecht in charge of the project will work
closely with Quirem Medical to adapt the new treatment for treating
tumors in other organs as well. This year, research will start on the
use of holmium microspheres to treat head and neck tumors. For that
application, too, the unique image guidance with MRI introduces
possibilities for closely monitoring the localized treatment of tumors
and optimizing it as needed.
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