ISET presentation praises TACE beads

Using tiny chemotherapy-soaked beads to choke off and kill cancerous liver tumors is becoming more successful, according to research  presented at the International Symposium on Endovascular Therapy, held  in Hollywood, USA.

Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) is a minimally-invasive therapy  that takes a two-pronged approach to treating cancer. Interventional  physicians use minimally-invasive methods to deliver the beads (also  called microspheres) to the blood vessels that feed the tumor. The beads  are combined with cancer-killing chemotherapeutic agents and then  delivered to the blood vessels. The beads lodge in the blood vessels,  blocking blood flow to the artery and cutting off the blood supply to  the tumor - known as embolization. Several studies being presented at  the ISET report on advances in the treatment.

The most effective way to treat most cancerous tumors is by surgically  removing them. However, more than two-thirds of people with liver cancer  are not candidates for surgery due to the size or location of the tumor,  or because it has grown into the blood vessels. Doctors have turned to  other methods of treatment, including TACE. Because the chemotherapy is  delivered directly to the tumor - rather than to the entire body as is  the case with traditional chemotherapy - side effects usually are  lessened.