LONDON, July 24, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --
NEW UK GUIDANCE
SHOULD IMPROVE PATIENT ACCESS TO SIR-SPHERES® MICROSPHERES FOR
PRIMARY LIVER CANCER
The UK National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence
(NICE) has published guidance to support the routine use of SIRT
(Selective Internal Radiation Therapy) for the treatment of
patients with primary liver
cancer.[1] This decision is good
news for patients with the most-common form of primary liver
cancer, called hepatocellular carcinoma or HCC, for whom few
effective treatment options are available currently.
SIRT is used for the treatment of inoperable liver tumours and
involves injecting millions of tiny radioactive microspheres into
the liver via the hepatic artery (blood supply). Each microsphere
is coated with a beta-emitting radioactive isotope called
yttrium-90. The radiation delivers localised treatment to tumour
cells whilst conserving normal liver cells. SIR-Spheres
microspheres, a form of SIRT, were approved in Europe in 2002 and more than 35,000 treatments
have been supplied worldwide. Over 500 patients have received this
treatment in Britain. The NICE
guidance, released on 24th July
2013, confirmed that the scientific evidence of the safety
and efficacy of SIRT for patients with HCC is now considered
adequate, which means that eligible National Health Service (NHS)
patients are now likely to have improved access to this
treatment.
Dr Harpreet Wasan, Consultant Oncologist at
Hammersmith Hospital, Imperial College, said:
"SIRT is an innovative treatment for
patients with inoperable primary liver tumours where few other
effective treatment options are available. It is excellent
news that NICE has now published guidance supporting the latest
evidence on SIRT in HCC and this should ensure suitable patients
can access SIRT on the NHS. I hope that, as a result,
'postcode prescribing' and treatment delays due to a lengthy
funding application and approval process will no longer be a
problem for treating eligible NHS patients with SIRT."
About
Hepatocellular Carcinoma
HCC occurs most commonly in people whose livers have become
severely damaged or cirrhotic, usually due to underlying liver
conditions such as previous viral hepatitis infection or alcohol
related liver damage. It is one of the ten most-common cancers in
the world, with nearly 750,000 cases diagnosed annually, and is the
third-leading cause of cancer
deaths.[2] HCC occurs with
greatest frequency in regions where hepatitis is most often
diagnosed, such as in the Asia
Pacific region and Southern
Europe.
HCC can be cured only by surgery, either by resecting or
ablating the diseased parts of the liver, or by transplantation
with a liver from a donor. These interventions, however, are
unsuitable for the great majority of patients, whose survival may
range from a few months to two or more years depending largely on
the state of their liver at the time of their diagnosis and the
extent of tumour in the liver.
For Further Information:
SIR-Spheres microspheres are approved for use in Australia, the European Union (CE Mark),
New Zealand, Switzerland, Turkey and several other countries for the
treatment of unresectable liver tumours.
SIR-Spheres microspheres are also fully FDA PMA-approved and are
indicated in the U.S. for the treatment of non-resectable
metastatic liver tumours from primary colorectal cancer in
combination with intra-hepatic artery chemotherapy using
floxuridine.
®SIR-Spheres is a registered trademark of Sirtex SIR-Spheres Pty
Ltd.
References:
- National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence.
Selective internal radiation therapy for primary hepatocellular
carcinoma (Interventional Procedure Guidance 460). London: NICE, July
2013.
- GLOBOCAN. Liver Cancer Incidence and Mortality Worldwide in
2008.
732-EUA-0713
SOURCE Sirtex Medical Limited