Infusion system may aid patients with unresectable liver cancer

A new infusion system may allow for the safe and effective treatment of patients with inoperable liver cancer, according to a press release.

In a series of case reports published in the Journal of Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiology, three patients with unresectable liver cancer, one of whom would not have been treatable through other means, received intra-arterial ytrrium-90 microsphere radioembolization via the Surefire Infusion System (Surefire Medical). All patients were discharged the day after radioembolization, and none experienced procedure-related complications.

According to the release, the system allows for the procedure to be performed without coil embolization of extrahepatic vessels before treatment. The device features a microcatheter with an expandable, funnel-shaped tip that collapses during forward flow and expands during reverse flow. It is designed to protect against reflux while improving delivery and reducing tissue damage during treatment.

“We performed successful yttrium-90 radioembolization without coiling,” Maurice van den Bosch, MD, PhD, interventional radiologist at the University Medical Center Utrecht in the Netherlands, said in the release. “PET-CT confirmed adequate, efficient biodistribution of the microspheres in targeted liver segments only.”