Note the increase in the approx number of physicians and centres...

Note the increase in the approx number of physicians and centres in the US now using Sir-Spheres in the article below.

LAKE FOREST, Ill., Sep. 14, 2006 (Business Wire) -- Sirtex, a leading developer of targeted and innovative cancer therapies, is pleased to announce their support of the Second Annual Harvard Medical School Brachytherapy Review that will include a presentation on the administration of yittrium 90 microspheres. The educational program will be held Sept. 15-16 at the Radisson Hotel in Boston, Mass. Sirtex manufactures SIR-Spheres microspheres, the only FDA-approved microsphere therapy for colorectal cancer that has metastasized to the liver.

The annual program attracts radiation oncologists, medical physicists and other physicians interested in brachytherapy. The goal of the review is to provide both a theoretical and clinical overview of currently available modalities of brachytherapy. Dr. Phillip M. Devlin, director of brachytherapy, Brigham and Women's Hospital/Harvard Medical School, will serve as course director during the two-day program.

Dr. Nasir H. Siddiqi, attending interventional radiologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital will present a lecture on "Interventional Radiology Approach to Sphere Therapy" during the Friday morning program on Hepatic Brachytherapy. His presentation will include the latest information on the administration of SIR-Spheres microspheres through Selective Internal Radiation Therapy (SIRT).

"We appreciate Dr. Siddiqi's involvement in the Harvard Brachytherapy Review and are pleased that SIR-Spheres will be included in such a prestigious medical education program," says Nat Geissel, CEO, Sirtex Medical Inc. "Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital are making major strides in advancing the use of brachytherapy. We hope that programs like this will allow us to get the latest data on SIR-Spheres microspheres therapy in the hands of physicians."

Sirtex's SIR-Spheres microspheres are radioactive polymer spheres that emit beta radiation. Physicians insert a catheter through the groin into the hepatic artery and deliver millions of SIR-Spheres microspheres directly to the tumor site. Approximately 60 physicians in the United States use Sirtex's SIR-Spheres microspheres in more than 65 medical centers. The minimally invasive procedure is performed on an out-patient basis with minor side effects.