What Y-90 means for patients
The Y-90 program has treated eight patients since Sept. 2024. There’s a follow-up appointment at six weeks and three months and, by that point, clinicians can usually see effects on the tumor.
"Things are going well at this point,” says Tarulli. “We're starting to see results for patients, and they look good.”
John, one of the first patients to receive Y-90 at KHSC, says getting the treatment close to home made a big difference.
In 2017, he had surgery and interventional radiology to treat a liver tumour. A year later, doctors found a lesion in his lung. He started immunotherapy, and by the end of 2018, there was no sign of cancer.
But in November 2024, another mass appeared in his liver. This time, Dr. Tarulli said he was a good candidate for Y-90.
“The other option was to go for surgery, but there were concerns over bleeding and other complications. When you’re there you just have to put your faith in the experts.”
Compared to the other treatments, it was nothing. I didn’t experience any pain.
Over the years, John has worked with many care teams and acknowledged that having to travel to another hospital would have made things harder.
“We’re lucky to be able to get this care here, and the team has been one hundred percent excellent,” says John. “Dr. Tarulli has called me to follow up multiple times, and that doesn’t happen everywhere.”
When asked how he felt about being one of the first to get Y-90 at KHSC, he said simply: “I feel pretty lucky.”
