Nuclear Medicine & Radiation Therapy

Hepatic Radioembolisation of Yttrium-90 Microspheres in Animal Model

Abstract

Ahmad Bitarafan-Rajabi, Kazem Babazadeh, Hosein Poorbaygi, Shahab Sheibani, Hossein Porbiegi, Mona Heidarali, Asghar Zare, Reza kiani, Hossien Barati and Amir Darbandi Azad

Background and Aim: Liver directed therapy utilizing yttrium-90 microspheres represents a recently introduced in situ multidisciplinary cancer therapy that has caught the attention of many physicians faced with the challenges of treating these complex patients. Radioactive particle in capillary liver system were assessed through the in vivo test and the leakage to lung or other organ was defined. The concentration of Y-90 in liver tumor without leakage to the other organ was seen which has the important role in radioactive drug successes by radioimbolization method.
Method: Four different phases of Y 90 injection were performed in rabbits; 1. Preparation of Y-90 glasses microspheres, 2. Preservation, preparation and tumorization of the animal lab before and after drug injection, 3. Animal Angiography and injection of radioactive drug in animal liver, 4. Radionucleotide imaging of the animal; an assessment of stabilization of the radioactive particle in liver tumor. Early and late anterior and posterior injection of Y90 microspheres on rabbet showed. Yttrium 90 microspheres concentrated in liver, background, left and right lung were calculated. The mean ± SD was defined for the particle localization.
Result: The most Y90 microspheres were localized in late posterior view in rabbet and the less in background; 67.79 ± 19.9 and 13.65 ± 7.97 respectively. Considering the late posterior view the highest total count of particles were mostly seen in the liver and then in the background, 68804 and 12026 respectively. Early posterior injection of Y90 demonstrated the most particles were concentrated in liver 57.82 ± 17.66 and the smallest in the background 19.61 ± 6.63. Regarding early anterior injection, the most average number of the particles was reported 44.35 ± 13.10 in liver and the fewer particles were in background 17.93 ± 5.44. Concerning the late anterior view, the great total numbers of particles were concentrated in liver 1020 and the less in left and right lung with the number of 342. The average particles counts were calculated 79.33 ± 21.55 in the liver and 36.17 ± 8.7 in background.
Conclusion: Significantly higher doses of radiation can be delivered to a liver mass by intra-hepatic arterial administration of 90Y-microspheres and the most concentration of the particles were seen in the liver in comparison to the other organ. This treatment appears to be beneficial in non-respectable tumors with acceptable toxicity.