Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) facilities are among the few hospitals in the United States to offer TheraSphere^®, an innovative, new therapy that delivers radiation directly to tumors in the liver using tiny glass beads called microspheres. The microspheres measure one-third the diameter of a human hair and are embedded with a radioactive element to target liver cancer cells.

TheraSphere^® is delivered through a catheter that is positioned in the hepatic artery, the liver’s main blood vessel. The physician guides the catheter into the branch of the hepatic artery that feeds the tumor and then infuses the microspheres through the catheter into the tumor’s blood supply. Once in the liver, the microspheres get trapped in the small blood vessels that feed the tumor and radiation gets delivered directly to the tumor, sparing surrounding healthy tissue.

TheraSphere^® is an outpatient treatment that offers patients with inoperable liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma, HCC) a potentially less toxic treatment option compared to traditional chemotherapy and radiation.