South Texas VA is a new nuclear power in the fight against cancer

As many cancer treatments involve radiation, South Texas Veterans Health Care System utilizes Selective Internal Radiation Treatment (SIRT) with Yttrium-90 (Y-90) to treat both primary and metastatic cancers in the liver.  SIRT is done with tiny microspheres containing Y-90 that enable a targeted delivery of lethal radiation to the cancers.  This technique kills the cancer and limits harm to the surrounding healthy tissue.  Most importantly, this procedure kills cancer without the need for a major surgery, a hospital stay or a prolonged recovery.

South Texas recently celebrated its first year of the Y-90 program in May, but Dr. Raul Palacios, Chief of Interventional Radiology Department at South Texas Veterans Health Care System has been leading the charge for more than a decade. He first began this program while working for the Department of Defense at the Brooke Army Medical Center.

“It took seven years and so many unforeseen struggles, but perseverance and an “I-CARE” attitude paid off in the end,” Dr. Palacios said. “As health care professionals, we are so often faced with a choice that we know is right but very, very hard.” 

One of those struggles was obtaining the licensure required in order to certify this program and Mr. Joseph Beckman, Radiation Safety Officer at South Texas Veterans Health Care System worked tirelessly through the paperwork and logistics to ensure the hospital was granted the license.

“Navigating the bureaucratic maze would have been impossible without Dr. Palacios’ dedication due to the detail requirements for each of the lead actors in Intervention Radiation, Nuclear Medicine, and Radiation Safety,” he said. “This effort was well worth the time and energy due to the significant improvements in the procedure and the successful extension of the Veteran’s quality of life,” he said.

Beckman highlighted that Radiation Safety Service’s primary responsibility is to ensure VA employees’ safety while balancing the requirements for patient care. With this, Radiation Safety has not only become the subject matter expert for the isotope Y-90, but the specific use and form that is used in this specific procedure.

“Radiation Safety is a detail-oriented service employed to serve the Veterans and employees of Audie L. Murphy Memorial Veterans Hospital and has made sure to understand the SIRT procedure to the extent to be able to address all SIRT concerns of Audie L. Murphy Memorial Veterans Hospital’s patients and employees.”

Just as Beckman emphasized the dedication of the Radiation Safety Service, Dr. Palacios shared that this was a selfless commitment by so many VA employees to provide the best care for our Veterans.  It brought together departments of radiology, hepatology, oncology, nuclear medicine, radiation safety, and logistics to make this Y-90 program successful. 

“It was an advocacy for our Veterans that made us take those challenging steps so our Vets can get the care they need here where they are most comfortable and within reach of their doctors who take care of them,” Dr. Palacios said. 

Now more than 40 patients have had an opportunity to receive this treatment and an untold number of life years have been added.

“Our program has insourced this procedure and saved millions for our VA as it is estimated that each procedure done at an outside hospital can cost an average of $100,000,” he said. “We respect our Veterans’ time and confidence in our VA. They should know there are only a handful of VAs in this nation that provide Y-90 as a treatment option, and we are one of them.”

South Texas is only one of 23 active VA sites across the nation with the Y-90 accreditation and also ranks as fourth in the nation for local regional treatment of cancer. Dr. Palacios takes great pride and is passionate about the fight against cancer.  He gives all the credit to the VA team that assists him in making it possible. 

“In this pursuit of excellence, a host of dedicated personnel to include physicists, technologists, nurses, doctors, and industry experts came together so our Veterans can get state of the art care for primary and metastatic liver cancers.” 

It matters so much to our veterans and all the hard work it is now paying off.

Nenette Madla, Public Affairs Officer

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