Services: Interventional Radiology

In addition to traditional therapies such as systemic chemotherapy, external radiation and surgery, interventional radiologists offer several innovative treatment options for cancer patients. Working closely with your medical oncologist, an interventional radiologist can help design a treatment plan that can either replace or augment traditional therapies.

Chemoembolization
Chemoembolization is a procedure used to treat tumors in the liver that either came from the liver or spread to the liver from elsewhere in the body (metastatic disease). The interventional radiologist performs an angiogram where a small catheter is guided from the artery in the leg or wrist to the arteries in the liver. After determining which arteries supply the tumor, chemotherapy is infused through the catheter and directly into the tumor. This maximizes the delivery of the chemotherapy into the tumor while minimizing how much spreads to the rest of the body. This substantially decreases side effects related to chemotherapy. As part of the procedure, the interventional radiologist also injects a substance that blocks off the blood supply to the tumor, starving it of oxygen and nutrition. The procedure takes approximately 1 hour and is performed under moderate sedation

Radioembolization (Y-90)
Radioembolization is another procedure used to treat tumors in the liver. Like chemoembolization it involves guiding a small catheter from the groin or wrist to the arteries in the liver. In radioembolization, microscopic beads containing a powerful radiation source (Yttrium-90) are then injected into the arteries supplying the tumor. This delivers a powerful dose of radiation directly into the tumor while minimizing side effects in the surrounding tissues. The decision whether to use chemoembolization or radioembolization is complex and involves many factors including tumor type, size and location. The decision involves a collaboration with you, your medical oncologist and the interventional radiologist.

Cryo-Ablation and Microwave Ablation
Ablations involve using ultrasound and CT scanners to guide a needle into the tumor. The needle can then emit either heat (microwave ablation) or cold (cryo-ablation). These extreme temperatures kill the adjacent tumor cells. This is an alternative to larger surgical procedures. The therapy can be tailored to different tumor sizes and locations. Ablation is most commonly used to treat tumors in the liver and kidneys, but can also be used in bones and other sites.

Access for chemotherapy
Many of the medications used for chemotherapy need to be delivered directly to the larger blood vessels near the heart rather than the small veins in the arms. For this reason, your medical oncologist may recommend an infusion port (sometimes called a chestport or port-a-cath). The port sits underneath the skin on the chest and a small catheter tube runs under the skin and enters a vein at the base of the neck. By going to an interventional radiologist, you can have your port placed by a vascular specialists who places hundreds of vascular access devices each year. Ports placements performed in IR take approximately 30 minutes. The procedure is done under moderate sedation and you are typically discharged after a 1 hours recovery.