Have you had TACE or SirSpheres radiation treatment? Please share

Posted by Sue @sue_in_delaware, Oct 4, 2015

Does anyone have experience with receiving TACE or SirSpheres, which are 2 types of radiation to the cancer tumor. I have colon cancer with mets to the liver. I've had 8 chemo treatments since starting chemo on April 22, 2015 and the 7.2 tumor in my liver has only shrunk to 6.2. They want it smaller before trying resection surgery. I'm wondering about the side effects of the TACE or Sir Sphreres treatments, pros and cons, risks and benefits etc. Thanks!

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Colorectal Cancer Support Group.

@colleenyoung

Thank you @bbams for voicing your perspective frankly and respectfully to @irvkay312. We all get to our stages in due time. Kay has found peace in hospice care and we are grateful to his sharing frankly about this stage in life. Often it is not talked about.

But let's get back to you and your husband. It appears that you are well aware of the road ahead, and that you and your husband are focused on living with eyes wide open. I'm tagging @sue_in_delaware in the hopes that she can share her experience with SIRT.

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It never even crossed my mind that it wouldn't be cancer related! Ha. He doesn't drink a crazy amount of caffeine in the first place (I do) so I didn't think about that. Headaches could mean very scary things though so that was a relief... and of course he had a little caffeine and it went away. Sigh. I'll let you know how it goes... when he starts talking to me again :/ Has just been VERY VERY tired since the procedure but he's looking a little better the last few days 🙂

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I had tace for liver cancer just had mri tumor shows possible left over cancer have to go for ct in november

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@sara1257

I had tace for liver cancer just had mri tumor shows possible left over cancer have to go for ct in november

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Welcome to Connect, @sara1257. I'm curious, did the MRI show traces of cancer in the liver or elsewhere? How were the side effects of the TACE treatment for you?

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Here is the exact phrase, as far as side effects i had a lot of pain in upper back and arm (Low intensity lesion with smooth peripheral thin enhancement in segment 7 of the liver, likely location of previously treated hepatocellular carcinoma. Overall findings are suggestive of posttreatment changes, however in the absence of prior
comparisons a small focus of residual cancer cannot be entirely excluded. Short interval follow-up is recommended.)

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Now I understand why you had an MRI and have to wait until November for a CT scan. The MRI was to provide a baseline (a picture of what your liver looks like now). Then the CT will be used to see if there are any changes that happen over 3 months, which is the 3 months the report mentions. Did your care team explain that to you already? It makes sense, although I bet the waiting is tough.

Is the pain in your upper back and arm gone now?

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yes the pain is gone I should clear up when this first started 10/11/15 is when they found the hcc with a ct and mir I have stage 4 cirrhosis the mir i am referring to is the 4th since hcc was found and treated also after tace the next day I received rfa I am being treated at um jackson memorial in fl was referred for transplant but delayed to wait for ct and my meld score went down 4 points

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Hi, my husband had his SIRT on June 28 and August 10. Interventional radiology did a baseline CT before the first procedure and the next IR ordered CT isn't until November 10. They said there can be a lot of inflammation and won't get an accurate CT result until November because of that. Maybe that helps answer your question?

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@sara1257

yes the pain is gone I should clear up when this first started 10/11/15 is when they found the hcc with a ct and mir I have stage 4 cirrhosis the mir i am referring to is the 4th since hcc was found and treated also after tace the next day I received rfa I am being treated at um jackson memorial in fl was referred for transplant but delayed to wait for ct and my meld score went down 4 points

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Sara, you may also be interested in following the Transplants group https://connect.mayoclinic.org/group/transplants/
In particular, these discussions:
Liver transplant - https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/liver-transplant-2221d5/
Getting listed - https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/getting-listed/

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