Radioembolization
Your doctor may recommend radioembolization to treat liver cancer if traditional surgery isn’t an option. Also called y90 treatment, this less invasive procedure injects tiny radioactive beads into blood vessels that feed a tumor. The tumor then shrinks or dies. You benefit from effective treatment with fewer side effects than surgery and less impact on healthy tissue. That means an easier, faster recovery.
Preparing for y90 treatment
After receiving your cancer specialist’s referral, we’ll schedule a clinic visit. You’ll learn the details of radioembolization and get answers to your questions.
What to expect
Your care takes place in two parts. First, you’ll have an angiogram. This imaging scan shows the liver tumor and blood flow.
Several weeks later, you’ll have another angiogram. During this scan, an interventional radiologist will inject a custom dose of radioactive beads tailored to your tumor. An interventional radiologist is a doctor who uses imaging guidance to perform minimally invasive procedures.
Don’t eat or drink anything the evening before an angiogram.
At the hospital
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Change into a hospital gown
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Receive an intravenous (IV) line for fluids and medications
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Meet your interventional radiologist to discuss the procedure
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Go to the procedure suite, where your care team will attach sensors to monitor your vital signs and give you conscious sedation (medicine to relax you and prevent pain)
Then, the interventional radiologist will:
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Place a thin, flexible tube called a catheter in an artery in your wrist or upper thigh
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Move the catheter to your liver arteries under imaging guidance
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Examine your liver tumor (first procedure) or inject the radioactive beads (second procedure)
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Withdraw the catheter and place a dressing over your incision
Your care team will monitor you for several hours as you recover from sedation. Then, you’ll return home.
After radioembolization
You’ll receive prescription medications to relieve y90 side effects such as abdominal pain, nausea, and a fever. Expect these symptoms to fade after a few days.
Follow-up care
You’ll see us in the interventional radiology clinic after your next liver imaging scan, usually three to six months after the y90 procedure. Follow-up visits help your doctors determine the next steps for your cancer care.
