IsoRay, Inc, Richland, Wash, has announced that physicians have performed the world’s first Cesium-131(Cs-131) implant for the treatment of colorectal cancer. The brachytherapy procedure was conducted on October 10, 2009 at Weill Cornell Medical Center.
The patient who received the Cs-131 implant was a 38-year-old with locally recurrent colon cancer. In addition to the brachytherapy, the patient underwent surgical resection of the tumor as a part of the treatment.
Bhupesh Parashar, MD, and other members of Cornell’s Department of Radiation Oncology, and Jeffery Milsom, MD, from the Cornell’s Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery performed the procedure.
Parashar said in the new release that there has been no evidence of cancer recurrence or side effects that can be attributed to the Cesium-131 seed implant.
Cesium-131 has a history of success in treating lung, head and neck, ocular melanoma, and prostate cancers in other patients.
Dwight Babcock, IsoRay’s CEO, said that company will be conducting a lung cancer study in 2010 and preparing to expand the use of Cs-131 to additional areas in the body.
“We believe brachytherapy using Cs-131 has a unique and growing application to many areas within the body—not just the prostate,” said Babcok in the press release.
More information is available www.isoray.com .
