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On her 59th birthday in August 2006, Nancy Hamm, of Cincinnati, Ohio, learned from her doctor that she had hepatocellular carcinoma, or primary liver cancer. Though she had experienced no symptoms other than a slight bulge in her abdomen and just one occasion of pain, Nancy's prognosis was grim.
Primary liver cancer kills an estimated 18,000 people each year, according to the American Cancer Society.
Laparoscopic surgery at the University of Cincinnati revealed that the tumor in Nancy's liver measured almost 9 centimeters, far larger than the outside limit of 5 centimeters for such patients to be considered for a liver transplant. Nancy's oncologist told her that conventional chemotherapies were not likely to help and that no radiation treatment option existed.
"He wasn't very optimistic," Nancy said.
Instead of accepting the worst, Nancy sought a second opinion. She and her husband, both retired, were vacationing in North Carolina two and a half months after her initial resection when they received a call from the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center-Nancy had been accepted for a consult and was scheduled to meet with an oncologist.
After undergoing a CT scan, Nancy was told that the cancer had invaded her portal vein, which meant that finding an effective treatment was unlikely. When the oncologist mentioned an experimental chemotherapy clinical trial, Nancy figured she had nothing to lose and enrolled in the study, which she began the day before Thanksgiving in 2006.
Meanwhile, that December Nancy's son came across an internet article about TheraSphere, an innovative, therapeutic treatment that radiates tumors with yttrium-90 microspheres. TheraSphere, made by MDS Nordion, Ottawa, Canada, was being used at the University of Louisville as a localized radiation treatment for liver cancer. He immediately called the facility and supplied his mother's information. Nancy found out shortly after that she was a candidate for the procedure and underwent therapy with the radiated beads in February 2007.
After seven months, Nancy's liver showed almost no signs of residual cancer, and in September 2007, she received a liver transplant. Nancy remains cancer free today, almost a year and half after receiving her new liver, and attributes a combination of medical science, prayer and healing to her treatment success.
To listen to Nancy's first-person account of her successful treatment with Y-90 microspheres, click on the webcast player below.
Right Click Here to download the Nancy Hamm Interview.
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