Goshen Center For Cancer Care Sponsors Symposium Dedicated To Increasing Awareness And Treatment Options For Inoperable Liver Cancer

Main Category: GastroIntestinal / Gastroenterology
Also Included In: Cancer / Oncology;  Colorectal Cancer
Article Date: 25 Apr 2008 - 1:00 PST

email to a friend   printer friendly   view / write opinions   rate article

The world's leading liver cancer experts will come together May 2 and 3 during the fourth annual clinical symposium on liver-directed therapy at Chicago's Drake Hotel. Titled "Radiomicrosphere Therapy," the symposium is hosted by the Goshen Center for Cancer Care and led by Seza Gulec, M.D., F.A.C.S.

Gulec, who currently heads the endocrine surgery, hepatic oncology, molecular imaging and position emission tomography programs at the Goshen Center for Cancer Care, will serve as symposium director.

During the two-day event, 25 national and international guest faculty will be brought together to present their experiences with Y-90 microsphere SIRT. The clinical symposium is supported by a restricted educational grant from Sirtex Medical.

"Liver cancer, primary or metastatic, is a deadly disease with challenging management issues requiring multimodality treatment strategies involving novel treatment options," says Dr. Gulec. "Liver is a very common site for metastases from colorectal cancer, and other gastrointestinal cancers as well as others such as breast cancer, and ocular melanoma. Progression of cancer in the liver leads to liver failure which is the usual cause of death in these patients."

The annual symposium, said Dr. Gulec, aims to increase the awareness of how common the liver cancer problem is - and furthermore, emphasize the need for developing new treatments to combat against this deadly disease, such as Y-90 microsphere SIRT.

Y-90 microsphere therapy is a novel approach for treating liver cancer by selectively targeting tumors with very short range radiation, while sparing the much needed healthy liver tissue.

The Goshen Center for Cancer Care and Dr. Gulec have been at the forefront of development of this breakthrough therapy, and have successfully treated hundreds of patients since implementation of the liver cancer therapy program three years ago. The center currently serves as a national and international referral center for patients suffering from liver cancer.

During the symposium, Dr. Gulec will present data from a Phase II study that evaluated the use of SIRT with Yttrium-90 resin microspheres and chemotherapy (Chemo-SIRT), as a front-line therapy in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. According to the study, Chemo-SIRT combination produced significantly improved tumor responses as demonstrated by functional volume decrease and suppression of tumors' metabolic activity compared to chemotherapy alone.

New data also to be presented at the symposium includes a presentation by Maurizio Cosimelli, M.D. from the Regina Elena Cancer Institute in Rome, Italy regarding the use of Yttrium-90 in patients with colorectal liver metastases refractory to standard chemotherapy. The report from this trial concludes that Y-90 resin microspheres produced an encouraging median survival, with acceptable toxicity in previously treated patients with colorectal cancer liver metastases. It was also suggested that combining SIRT with chemotherapy should be explored to further enhance the efficacy of Y-90 microsphere modality.

Additionally, David Liu, M.D., and Richard Warner, M.D. will discuss the experience with Y-90 microspheres in the treatment of neuroendocrine tumors. Dr. Liu will be presenting data based on a retrospective review from 10 institutions which indicated favorable clinical responses with the use of Yttrium-90 microsphere therapy in patients with a variety of NETs.

About The Goshen Center for Cancer Care

The Goshen Center for Cancer Care is involved in, and sponsors, a number of clinical trials. Clinical trials have contributed to major medical breakthroughs in cancer treatments. Through various types of trials, research is conducted with the participation of patients on a voluntary basis. Prevention, screening, diagnostic and treatment trials are conducted at Goshen Center for Cancer Care, in addition to quality of life trials and genetic trials.

Treatment protocols are continuously reviewed and updated to reflect the latest research and are offered to eligible participants. Clinical trials available include treatments for breast cancer, colon cancer, Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, lung cancer, esophageal cancer, head and neck cancer, liver cancer, melanoma, myeloma, prostate cancer and pancreatic cancer. To learn more about participation criteria, patients can call the Goshen Center for Cancer Care's Research Department at 574-535-2974.

The Goshen Center for Cancer Care provides medical, radiation, nuclear and surgical oncology as well as naturopathic medicine through its integrative team approach in the treatment of cancer. The model embraces the patient as a whole person, and provides comprehensive multidisciplinary medical management while nurturing the body, mind and spirit of each patient. To find out more about the Goshen Center for Cancer Care or Goshen Health System, call 866-561-HOPE or visit http://www.goshencancer.org.

Goshen Health System is a not-for-profit provider of health care that includes Goshen General Hospital, The Goshen Center for Cancer Care, Park Home Medical Equipment, PrimeCare Physician Network, Team:Bariatrics, The Retreat Women's Health Center and Indiana Lakes Managed Care Organization. The health system is an affiliate partner of Clarian Health.

Goshen Health System