Yttrium-90 can be used in people who have intermediate liver disease and do not qualify for transplantation. In these people yttrium-90 can be used to downstage their disease. Yttrium-90 can be used for palliation to improve overall survival, but not with a curative intent or to palliate tumor related symptoms.
Yttrium-90 is primarily used in people with chemo-refractory tumors in the liver, or who have failed second or third line chemotherapies. This is called salvage therapy, and it does improve survival in that setting. It can also be used in people who are intolerant to chemotherapy, which either could be first line, second line, or third line. It can be used as a chemo-vacation as a maintenance therapy between chemotherapy doses, and can be used for consolidation therapy.
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