Innovative Yttrium-90 Microsphere Radioembolization Vascular Radiology Prolongs Lives Of Liver Cancer Patients
Specially trained and board-certified physicians are now using interventional oncology to deliver targeted cancer treatment to liver cancer patients. The treatments are minimally invasive and are performed without medicating patients or affecting their other body parts. Innovative and minimally invasive Yttrium-90 microsphere radioembolization treatment is now a standard procedure, and the treatment does prolong patients' lives.
Yttrium-90 Microsphere Radioembolization
Yttrium-90 microsphere radioembolization treatment is also referred to as selective internal radiation therapy (SIRT). If you're suffering from inoperable liver cancer and associated liver metastases, your surgeon will use SIRT to shrink your tumors before you undergo the procedure. Liver cancer can be difficult to safely remove. So, your specialist surgeon uses the SIRT method to directly deliver internal radiation therapy to your tumor. The Yttrium-90 procedure extends your life, and that's a great benefit when you're diagnosed with liver cancer. The procedure is fully approved by the FDA for the treatment of colorectal liver cancer metastases.
Why Yttrium Is So Effective
When you undergo this procedure, the goal of the treatment is to not only extend your life survival but to also slow down rapid progression of your cancer condition. It does exactly that by shrinking the tumor while offering you relief from the cancer's symptoms at the same time. Targeting the tumor for treatment is achieved when the interventional radiologist delivers a powerful radiation dosage to the tumor, which is far more effective than what conventional radiation can offer you. Radiation you receive from Yttrium-90 reportedly decreases during a fortnight period.
This designated treatment period ensures that your radiation treatment is completed. You don't have to worry about the status of the microspheres that are included in the treatment. Your radiologist will explain to you that they remain in your liver without causing any type of worrisome complications whatsoever. While the treatment does not cure your liver cancer, it certainly gives you a lease on life when you're faced with this type of liver cancer diagnosis.
Other Benefits of Y-90 Treatment
You are guaranteed mild side effects and a short recovery time following the procedure. If a number of tumors of varying sizes are detected in your liver, they're all treated during a single procedure. The procedure even treats tumors that are not detected earlier once the dosage is delivered to the targeted area. Y-90 treats all tumors that are fed by your hepatic artery.
Insurance Coverage
If you're eligible for Medicare, rest assured that the procedure is covered for standard 80 percent Medicare reimbursement. If you have Medigap private insurance, Medigap automatically covers the remaining balance of 20 percent that Medicare does not cover. You will not be billed for this procedure under Medicare guidelines. Check with other private insurance carriers if you're not eligible for Medicare coverage.
To learn more, talk to companies like the DeSoto Memorial Hospital.
