# What is radioembolization (Y-90) for liver cancer?

Source: https://oncologyistanbul.com/answers/what-is-radioembolization-y90
Last updated: 2026-07-23

Radioembolization — also called Y-90 or SIRT (selective internal radiation therapy) — is a procedure for liver tumors in which tiny radioactive beads (yttrium-90 microspheres) are delivered through a catheter into the artery feeding the tumor, so they lodge in the tumor's blood supply and irradiate it from the inside while sparing more of the healthy liver. The National Cancer Institute describes it for primary liver cancer and for cancer that has spread to the liver, in selected patients, and it is performed by interventional radiology, usually after a planning (mapping) angiogram. It needs a hospital set up with the right interventional-radiology and nuclear-medicine facilities, so it is offered only where that infrastructure exists — confirm directly. As with everything here, we never invent a price; any figure has to come from the treating center as an itemized quote, paid to the hospital, never to us.

## Verify at
- [NCI Dictionary — radioembolization](https://www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-terms/def/radioembolization) — National Cancer Institute (NCI) (checked 2026-07-23)

Related: [Radioembolization (Y-90) in Turkey](https://oncologyistanbul.com/radioembolization-turkey)