MDS Nordion, a leading global provider of medical isotopes and radiopharmaceuticals used to diagnose and treat disease, has announced that its innovative cancer treatment, TheraSphere has been used in India for the first time, marking the beginning of the treatment's broader introduction into India.

Three patients were the first to be treated for primary liver cancer in India using TheraSphere. Two of the successful infusions were conducted at the Lilavati Hospital and Research Centre. The third was performed at the Jaslok Hospital and Research Centre. Both centres are located in Mumbai, India.

TheraSphere will be used in India to treat both primary and secondary liver cancers. As a result of its commitment to providing innovative cancer treatments to people in India, MDS Nordion is one of 89 Ontario-based companies and organizations participating in a trade mission to India, organized by the Government of Ontario that is taking place this week.

"The first-time use of TheraSphere in India represents an incredible opportunity for us to expand the use of this innovative treatment to help people in India and increase MDS Nordion's global market reach," said
Steve West, president of MDS Nordion. "It also supports our strategy to explore and capitalize on opportunities in the health and life sciences sectors in this growing market."

Comprised of tiny radioactive glass beads, TheraSphere is injected by a physician into the main artery of the patient's liver using a catheter. This allows the treatment to be delivered directly to the tumour.

TheraSphere delivers a therapeutic dose of radiation to cancerous tumours directly while minimizing impact on the patient's healthy tissue. As a result, it has fewer side effects than traditional cancer therapy.

The treatment is usually an outpatient procedure and patients do not have to stay overnight in the hospital. "Patients with liver cancer are often difficult to treat as they are frequently very, very sick and unable to withstand traditional cancer therapy. TheraSphere provides us with another tool to treat this terrible disease," said Dr Vimal Someshwar, consulting Interventional Radiologist at the Lilavati Hospital.

"TheraSphere is a well-tolerated treatment option that offers a number of important benefits to the patients and the institutions providing their care."
Both the Lilivati and the Jaslok hospitals are leading centres in India for oncology care with specializations in the treatment of liver disease.

"As is the case around the world, India is also experiencing rising rates of cancer as its population grows and gets older," said Dr Shrinivas B Desai, head of the department of imaging and interventional radiology with the Jaslok Hospital. "In 2002, some 850,000 new cases of cancer were recorded in this country. The demand for effective cancer treatment in our country, over the coming years, will continue to grow."

Meanwhile, future TheraSphere treatments are planned at other medical facilities in India. "We are scheduled to bring this innovative technology to life very soon at the Apollo Cancer Institute. TheraSphere will have an important role in our overall treatment scenarios for patients with primary liver cancer and other cancers that have spread to the liver," said Dr Sameer Kaul, Surgical Oncologist at Apollo Hospital in New Delhi.

This introduction into India is another example of the momentum seen in the growing use of TheraSphere around the world. In 2006, TheraSphere received approval for distribution and use in Europe. In the US, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a Humanitarian Use Device for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common form of primary liver cancer, approve TheraSphere.

Most recently, MDS Nordion has received approval from the US FDA for the use of TheraSphere to treat patients with HCC who have partial or branch portal vein thrombosis (PVT) and who have been identified a suitable candidates by their physicians. MDS Nordion has also received FDA approval for clinical trials to test the effectiveness of TheraSphere in patients with secondary liver cancer.

TheraSphere is a low toxicity, out-patient liver cancer therapy which consists of millions of micro-glass beads containing radioactive yttrium-90.