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New Combo Treatment Of Beads, Chemo Drug Helps Battle Liver Cancer

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A new treatment consisting of a combination of tiny beads and a chemotherapy drug can help treat liver cancer.

CBS2's Dr. Max Gomez reported the combination of lumi beads that are coated in a chemotherapy drug kills off tumors without the nasty chemo side effects.

Doctors at Mount Sinai were able to make Patrick Delaney one of the first patients in the country to use this new technique. Delaney had two inoperable tumors in his liver.

"You know, when you first hear that, that you have two tumors in your liver, you know, you start thinking about how much time you got left," Delaney said.

Dr. Edward Kim of Mount Sinai said the advantage of the beads is that you can see what you're targeting in real time and have less side effects.

"[T]he drug will release slower and so the maximum effects will be in the tumor and not in the body," Kim said.

Kim can thread a tiny catheter through the wrist and because the tiny lumi beads show up in x-rays, he can tell when he's in a blood vessel that feeds just the tumor.

"So we have our initial experience with 10 patients, and so far, nine of the 10 patients we've seen a complete response," Kim said.

Delaney now has just scar tissue where the tumor once was.

"They cured the tumors with no side effects, no downtime. I went to work the next two days and was unbelievable. Whatever happens in the future is the future, but right now, I feel like I hit the lotto, you know?" Delaney said.

This technique is for what doctors call primary liver tumors. Those are tumors that start in the liver, not tumors that spread there from somewhere else.

While it's very early in the use of lumi beads, doctors said it's a hopeful option for patients who previously had few.

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