Bruce Power is now able to reliably produce Yttrium-90, a medical isotope used in the treatment of liver cancer.
“It’s another breakthrough treatment that we’re working on here in Canada that we’ll be able to ship around the world to patients. About 800,000 people a year get diagnosed with liver cancer, and with this treatment, we can provide them hope with a cure,” said Bruce Power President and CEO, Mike Rencheck.
Rencheck says Bruce Power has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Boston Scientific, who will use the isotopes in their cancer fighting technology.
“The exact treatment of Boston Scientific is called ‘TheraSphere’, where they actually attach the treatment directly into a cancer cell in your liver. That irradiation then kills the cancer cell specifically, and doesn’t damage any other cells around it. It’s a very effective treatment,” added Rencheck.
Ontario’s Minister of Energy, MPP Todd Smith, says it’s great to see Ontario’s leading energy producer make such waves in the medical community as well.
“It’s great that Bruce Power is on the forefront of a number of new technologies, but this Yttrium-90 product is going to help a lot of people that have been diagnosed with liver cancer get the treatment they need,” said Smith.
Bruce Power is already a leading producer of Cobalt-60, which is used to sterilize approximately 40 percent of the world’s single-use medical devices, and will soon commercially produce Lutetium-177, which is used to treat prostate cancer.
Read original story from Midwestern Ontario News – BlackburnNews.com