First liver cancer patient treated with microspheres irradiated in new TU Delft flexible irradiation facility

The production and distribution of short-lived medical isotopes is a race against time. To be able to get medical isotopes with the required level of radioactivity to the patient, TU Delft researchers have been working closely with Quirem Medical and Radboud UMC*. Today, in Italy, the first liver cancer patient will be treated with special radioactive microspheres that were produced in Delft. This innovative liver cancer treatment is conducted using tiny spheres – about the thickness of a hair – that are packed with the radioisotope Holmium-166. The microspheres are activated in a new flexible irradiation facility that was recently developed by TU Delft’s Reactor Institute Delft (RID).