Survival outcomes of a salvage patient population after radioembolization of hepatic metastases with yttrium-90 microspheres.
OBJECTIVE
To determine in a retrospective study the potential benefit on survival outcomes of radioembolization using yttrium-90 ((90)Y) resin microspheres in a cohort of patients presenting with chemotherapy-refractory liver metastases, primarily from colorectal cancer (CRC).


METHODS
Over 3 years, 249 patients were referred to the authors' center to determine suitability for radioembolization as treatment for hepatic metastases. All patients were defined as salvage, having failed first-line and second-line chemotherapies. These patients were divided into group 1 (CRC) and group 2 (all other cancers, eg, breast, neuroendocrine) and assessed for overall survival (OS) as a whole and according to group.


RESULTS
Using (90)Y resin microspheres, 208 patients were treated, undergoing 223 radioembolization treatments. The median OS was 8.3 months for the whole cohort, 7.9 months for group 1, and 8.7 months for group 2. At the 3-month follow-up, there was an overall adverse event rate of 9%. At the end of the data collection period, 62 patients were still alive.


CONCLUSIONS
Radioembolization shows promise as an effective and safe treatment for patients with chemotherapy-refractory hepatic metastases providing an extension to survival in the salvage setting.
Evans
Kathryn A
KA
Children's Cancer Institute Australia for Medical Research, Randwick, New South Wales, Australia.
Richardson
Matthew G
MG
Pavlakis
Nick
N
Morris
David L
DL
Liauw
Winston
W
Bester
Lourens
L
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004621:Embolization, Therapeutic / Q000401:mortality*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000556:secondary; D008297:Male; D008863:Microspheres; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals / Q000627:therapeutic use; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D016879:Salvage Therapy / Q000401:mortality*; D016019:Survival Analysis; D015996:Survival Rate; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D015021:Yttrium Radioisotopes / Q000627:therapeutic use*
D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D015021:Yttrium Radioisotopes