Radioembolisation - R3 and RID

Radioembolisation
For some time now, radioembolisation has been used as a last resort. This is a process which involves injecting microspheres containing a radioactive substance with a diameter of 30 micrometers into the blood vessel that feeds the tumour. The microspheres then become trapped in the capillaries of the tumour and emit radiation that kills all cells at a distance of less than a millimetre, which is exactly what you want.

Y-90
Current standard practice, in the USA in particular, is to use the radioisotope Y-90. This isotope has a good success rate. The entire procedure requires no longer than a day in hospital and provides months to years of quality life. In this sense, you could say that it actually works better than chemotherapy.

Ho-166
However, one disadvantage with using the Y-90 is that you cannot easily see from outside the body where the isotope is going. With this in mind, researchers Frank Nijsen and Fred van’t Schip in Utrecht have examined whether Ho-166 could provide a good alternative. This radionuclide is equally effective in killing cancer cells and can be traced from outside the body using gamma cameras to see whether, in fact, only the tumour is irradiated.

Successful
The RID reactor proved to provide the ideal conditions for developing the Ho-166 microspheres, which are being produced in collaboration with the R3 Department. Following successful preclinical tests on animals, the first human subjects underwent the procedure in December 2009.  

Large scale
The production of microspheres has become a routine operation performed by the RID. More patients are scheduled to have the procedure in 2010 to ascertain whether the method can eventually be applied on a large scale. In the television documentary http://player.omroep.nl/?aflID=10576808 viewers can watch a patient being treated with Y-90 radioembolisation.