Exploiting holmium treatment for liver cancer

UTRECHT, The Nethelands – Over the next few years, the University Medical Center (UMC) Utrecht and Quirem Medical will collaborate to maximize the unique properties of holmium microspheres and enable effective treatment planning and dosimetry in treatment evaluation to improve the results of patients who undergo radioembolization worldwide. This study will see 40 new patients being treated at UMC Utrecht.

Accumulation of holmium in the liver before and after treatment
Holmium microspheres are unique in that they can easily be seen on either a SPECT or an MRI scan, allowing the doctor to establish whether the microspheres are doing their work in the right place in the body. There are two stages to a treatment using holmium microspheres: First, administering a safe low dosage to allow the doctor to ascertain whether the radioactivity is accumulating properly in the liver; and secondly, a higher dosage is administered if it is.

The results of a phase I clinical study (HEPAR I) were published in Lancet Oncology in 2012. As part of that study, UMC Utrecht researchers treated 15 patients and found that the treatment was safe. A clinical study (the HEPAR II study) one the effectiveness and to collect further support for the safety of the treatment is currently ongoing. 
Prof. Maurice van den Bosch, an interventional radiologist at UMC Utrecht, said transforming academic research in medicine from new and exciting ideas into innovations can make a real difference to how patients are treated but requires the long and firm commitment of both public and private partners. “In Quirem Medical we have found a strong and dedicated partner that will further expedite the use of our research efforts in the field of minimally invasive, image-guided cancer treatments,” he said.
Founded in 2013 as a UMC Utrecht spin-off, Quirem Medical is an emerging medical device company that seeks to develop the next generation of microspheres for the targeted interventional treatment of liver malignancies.
Jan Sigger, CEO of Quirem Medical, said, “UMC Utrecht’s strong imaging and interventional capabilities are very much in line with the options that QuiremSpheres can provide to improve the effectiveness of the radioembolization procedure and, as a result, patient outcome.”
The unique properties of its holmium-based particles (QuiremSpheres?) make radioembolization treatments more effective. Whether using SPECT or MRI, the imaging and dose quantification options that the particles provide ensure optimally accurate treatment planning and evaluation. Quirem’s ambition is to provide a real-time, image-guided, personalized radioembolization treatment that improves patient outcome and increases the use of this innovative technology.