BTG has received Class III CE mark certification for DC Bead Lumi, the first commercially available radiopaque drug-eluting bead (DEB) in the EU which can be loaded with doxorubicin or irinotecan for the local treatment of tumours in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and malignant colorectal cancer metastasised to the liver. According to a company release, for the first time, DC Bead Lumi provides real-time visible and lasting confirmation of bead location.
The visibility of DC Bead Lumi, both during and after embolisation, is intended to provide the opportunity to individualise a patient’s treatment, by enabling real-time evaluation of the completeness of tumour treatment and enhanced endpoint determination. The incorporation of a tri-iodobenzyl moiety is designed to offer inherent long-term radiopacity of DC Bead Lumi, allowing informed decision-making for future treatment plans as DC Bead Lumi is still visible in follow-up scans, identifying areas of treatment and under-treatment.
“The ability to see bead location during transcatheter arterial chemoembolization procedures is a key step in enhancing the quality and potentially minimising complications of the procedure, and can help improve treatment outcomes compared to current techniques,” says Tobias Jakobs, The Hospital of the Order of St John of God, Munich, Germany. “More importantly, the lasting radiopacity of DC Bead Lumi means I can show patients that treatment has been placed exactly where it is needed.”
