Selective Internal RadioTherapy (SIRT)

SIRT Treatment of Liver Metastases in a Patient with Cancer

'Selective Internal RadioTherapy' (SIRT), also called 'Radio-embolisation' (RE), is a method of treating malignant liver tumours, whether those tumours originate from the liver itself (e.g. hepatocellular carcinoma or intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma), or have spread to the liver from elsewhere in the body (e.g. colon or rectal cancer, breast cancer, neuroendocrine cancer).

During the SIRT procedure, millions of 'beads', called microspheres, are injected into the artery that supplies the liver. The beads are tiny and can only be seen under a microscope. Each is smaller than the width of a human hair.

These microspheres contain a radioactive isotope which emits radiation that travels only a very short distance within the liver. Once injected into the liver, the microspheres emit radiation, which treats the tumour cells near the beads. The beads also help to cut off the blood supply to the tumours, thus starving them of oxygen.

Teamwork and Good Communication as an Exemplar for Specialist Services

Of ten Cancer Centres commissioned by NHS England to provide this specialist service to patients with cancer, Oxford University Hospitals is one of the busiest, averaging four to eight patients treated per month.

The SIRT team

• Dr Ricky Sharma
  Consultant in Clinical Oncology (Clinical Lead for the SIRT Service)
• Dr Andrew Weaver
  Consultant in Clinical Oncology
• Dr Phil Boardman
  Consultant in Radiology
• Dr Suzie Anthony
  Consultant in Radiology
• Mrs Jane Statham
  Superintendent Radiographer
• Dr A Hallam
  Medical Physicist

Links

Further information can be found on:

About Cancer - Cancer Research UK