Patient FAQs
How does a physician administer TheraSphere®?
To direct TheraSphere® treatment at tumors in the liver, a physician first makes a small incision in the patient's leg and places a long, flexible plastic tube called a catheter, into the femoral artery, which is the major blood vessel in the leg. Guided by fluoroscopy (an X-ray imaging technique that projects views of the inside of the body onto a screen) the physician then moves the catheter up through the blood vessels to the hepatic artery, which is one of two blood vessels that feeds the liver. The physician guides the catheter into the branch of the hepatic artery that feeds the cancerous tumor in the liver and infuses the TheraSphere® beads through the catheter into the blood that supplies the tumor. This is usually performed in a hospital's radiology suite and patients remain conscious throughout the procedure.
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TheraSphere® Therapy: Are you a candidate?
TheraSphere® is designed to treat inoperable liver cancer with radioactive microspheres that are placed directly in the liver. TheraSphere® can also be used to help maintain patients whose liver is unable to be treated surgically for resection or transplantation.
In all cases, the decision to begin treatment with TheraSphere® is up to your physician or cancer specialist, who is most familiar with your case and the various available treatments for liver cancer.
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Are there any risks associated with TheraSphere® use?
It is estimated that the vast majority of patients are potentially good candidates for catheter placement. This is the result of recent improvements in patient selection and improved technical skills in catheter placement.
However, physicians and patients should be aware of potential problems that can occur if TheraSphere® is not correctly placed in the liver, which can lead to serious side effects in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract or lungs. These usually only occur in patients who have unusual or severely damaged liver blood vessels.
Prior to TheraSphere administration, patients are screened to determine if they are at risk for the side effects in the GI tract or lungs.
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Will insurers pay for TheraSphere® treatment?
TheraSphere reimbursement is specific to your geographic region. Please consult Reimbursement for more information.
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Who administers TheraSphere®?
TheraSphere® is usually administered by an interventional radiologist under the supervision of a radiation oncologist, or nuclear medicine physician, who is part of a team that may include a surgeon, hepatologist, medical oncologist, nuclear medicine specialist and interventional radiologist.
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How much does treatment with TheraSphere® cost?
Treatment costs will vary, based upon the number of required treatments and how treatments are administered in the institution. Please contact your physician or a Treatment Center near you for more information.
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Where is TheraSphere® currently being used?
TheraSphere® is being used at a number of private and academic medical centers. Please refer to our Treatment Centers map to locate a center near you.
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