BTG plc, an international specialist healthcare company, announced that the first patient in Malaysia was treated with TheraSphere - a transarterial radioembolisation (TARE) therapy, which targets primary liver cancer and metastatic colorectal cancer with a powerful dose of radiation while minimising exposure to healthy tissue.
In Malaysia, primary liver cancer is the fifth most common cancer among men and the tenth most common cancer in the entire general population, accounting for 3.3% of all cancers diagnosed in Malaysia, with a high mortality rate.
A multidisciplinary approach was taken with the first radioembolisation treatment of a patient with TheraSphere at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) Medical Centre, with three physicians involved in the treatment.
Dr. Hairol Azrin Othman, Consultant Hepatobiliary & Pancreatic Surgeon, said, "Radioembolisation appears to be a feasible, safe and promising approach in the treatment of choice for patients with unresectable HCC," while his colleague Dr. Yazmin Yaacob, Consultant Interventional Radiologist, stated, "We are happy to now offer patients more options and better outcomes especially for unresectable HCC or liver metastases". Dr. Thanuja Mahaletchumy, Nuclear Medicine Specialist, was also part of the treating team, and added, "TheraSphere has opened a new dimension in the targeted therapy of unresectable primary and metastatic liver cancer and the properties of these glass microspheres allow optimal dose administration to the targeted area in liver."
TheraSphere glass microspheres, which are about a third of the width of a human hair, contain targeted amounts of radioactive yttrium90. The radioactive glass microspheres are delivered directly to liver tumours through the hepatic artery via a catheter, and as they penetrate the tumour via its supply of blood vessels, they become lodged and emit lethal beta radiation that is localized to the tumor tissue. TheraSphere glass microspheres have a high specific activity so fewer microspheres need to be administered to achieve the desired dose. As a result, they have minimal embolic effect.
James Glasgow, General Manager, BTG Asia, said "We are delighted that TheraSphere transarterial radioembolisation (TARE) therapy is available in Malaysia. This medical intervention could have meaningful outcomes for certain Malaysians diagnosed with primary liver cancer or metastatic colorectal cancer. Malaysia is now the fourth country in Asia where our minimally invasive procedure is offered as an option; physicians are already treating patients with TheraSphere in Hong Kong, South Korea and neighbouring Singapore."
In Malaysia, TheraSphere is available for the treatment of both primary liver cancer (also referred to as hepatocellular carcinoma [HCC]), and metastatic liver cancer (cancer that has spread to the liver from another point of origin.
The liver, which continuously filters blood circulating through the body, is also susceptible to "secondary" cancers, caused when tumours in other organs such as the colon, rectum, breast, head or neck have spread to the liver. These tumours are also known as liver metastases. The liver is the most common site of metastasis in patients with colorectal cancer.
