Sirtex Continues Commitment to Advance Intra-Arterial Brachytherapy By Providing Educational Grant for the Third Annual Symposium on Liver-Directed Microsphere Therapy
Sirtex, a leading developer of targeted and innovative cancer therapies, is providing an educational grant to support the third annual symposium on Liver-Directed Microsphere Therapy entitled, “Emerging Trends in Radioembolization Using Microspheres: A Clinical Workshop.” The event, to be held May 4-5 at The W Chicago City Center in Chicago, Ill., is sponsored by Wake Radiology Oncology Services in Cary, N.C. Andrew Kennedy, M.D., F.A.C.R.O., with Wake Radiology Oncology Services, will serve as course director.
The symposium will serve as a forum to present and exchange new clinical data on microsphere therapy for treating advanced liver cancer. The goal of the CME event is to enhance the knowledge and skills of treating physicians who use Selective Internal Radiation Therapy (SIRT) for the treatment of non-resectable liver tumors.
“We are at a pivotal point in regards to how we use microspheres to treat advanced liver tumors,” says Kennedy. “As treating physicians, we have witnessed the inspiring responses from patients who were successfully treated with microspheres after being told there were no treatments to help them. Now thanks to the growing amount of research, clinical trials and this annual symposium, we are moving towards expanding the use of microspheres to a first and second line regimen for a variety of liver tumors. It is exciting that this symposium will once again serve as the backdrop for new data to be presented that will improve the level of care that we offer patients with liver disease.”
Attendees will be introduced to the principles of Y90 microspheres: patient selection, pre-treatment evaluation, dosimetry, Y90 administration, and post-treatment care and management. Multidisciplinary faculty will review and discuss current treatment outcomes, treatment practices, controversies and future developments.
Sirtex has been involved with the annual symposium since its inception in 2005. Sirtex’s SIR-Spheres® microspheres are the only FDA-approved radioactive microspheres for treatment of metastatic liver tumors that originated in the colon or rectum.1 Sirtex’s educational grant illustrates the company’s ongoing commitment to educating physicians and patients on the latest microsphere therapies.
“At Sirtex, we believe it is important to support educational meetings such as the annual microsphere symposium,” says Nat Geissel, CEO of Sirtex Medical Inc. “These symposia have played a critical role in the advancement of SIR-Spheres microspheres and have helped raise the overall awareness of microspheres among the medical community. This symposium, along with the faculty’s commitment to advancing the use of microsphere therapy, is in direct alignment with Sirtex’s mission to improve the treatments available to patients with liver tumors.”
For more information on the symposium, please visit www.wakeoncology.com. A media room will be available at the meeting for media to interview presenters and patients. Members of the media interested in attending the symposium may contact Andrea Moody at 919-457-0743 or andrea.moody@fleishman.com.
Sirtex’s SIR-Spheres microspheres are radioactive polymer spheres that emit yttrium-90 beta radiation. Physicians insert a catheter through the groin into the hepatic artery and deliver millions of SIR-Spheres microspheres directly to the tumor site. Approximately 70 physicians in the United States use Sirtex’s SIR-Spheres microspheres in more than 65 medical centers. The minimally invasive procedure is performed on an out-patient basis with minor side effects.
1 Sirtex Medical Inc.’s SIR-Spheres® microspheres are indicated for the treatment of non-resectable metastatic colorectal cancer in combination with intra-arterial FUDR chemotherapy. Information regarding other disease states or agents in combination with this device that is presented in peer reviewed literature is different from the approved USA labeling for SIR-Spheres.
About Sirtex
SIR-Spheres microspheres were developed in the 1980s in Australia and were approved by the FDA in March 2002. Sirtex has obtained regulatory approval to market SIR-Spheres microspheres in the United States, European Union, Israel and Australia. The product is marketed in New Zealand, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. For more information, visit www.sirtex.com.
® SIR-Spheres is a Registered Trademark of Sirtex SIR-Spheres Pty Ltd