3 ways Boston Scientific helps patients living with cancer

Right now, one in five people around the world will develop cancer in their lifetimes. Due to population growth and the rise in the aging population, new cancer diagnoses are unfortunately predicted to increase in the coming decades, from 20 million new cases worldwide per year to 35 million by 2050. 

To help meet the mounting need for patient care options, Boston Scientific offers several therapies for treating cancer and improving the experience of those living with the disease. And with our recent acquisition of Intera Oncology, Inc., we plan to add even more tools to our portfolio for doctors to use in their fight against cancer. 

From devices that destroy cancer cells to treatments that make radiation more tolerable, here are three ways we currently help patients living with cancer. 

1. Improving outcomes for people with liver cancer 

Radiation therapy is often used to treat cancer, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common form of liver cancer. Traditional external radiation therapy comes with well-known risks. It can destroy healthy tissue along with the tumor and cause serious side effects like severe nausea, fatigue, skin issues and hair loss. But a treatment called transarterial radioembolization reduces those risks and side effects by taking a different approach: Instead of beaming radiation to the tumor from outside the body, it places a powerful dose of radiation inside the tumor.  

This radiation is delivered via TheraSphere™ Y-90 Glass Microspheres, which contain a concentrated isotope whose radiation only travels a short distance. The spheres are strong enough to shrink and even destroy HCC liver tumors while minimizing damage to the surrounding tissue. Patients typically go home the same day as their procedure and the therapy is far more tolerable than the usual side effects of traditional external radiation or of chemotherapy alone. 

TheraSphere can be used to fight cancer on its own as a potentially curative therapy or as part of a wider treatment plan. For example, when a 32-year-old patient named Nicole was diagnosed with HCC, her tumor was already too large to be operable; physicians predicted she had six months to live. Then, Nicole learned about TheraSphere. She opted to receive the treatment and it shrunk her tumor down, paving the way for a successful surgery. Today, Nicole is eight years cancer-free and has normal liver function. 

For people with colorectal cancer that has spread to the liver, the traditional treatment is systemic chemotherapy. It is usually delivered through a vein or sometimes orally, requiring the drug to travel through the body’s bloodstream to reach the liver. As a result, only a small portion of the chemotherapy ultimately reaches the tumor; it often causes serious side effects. 

With the hepatic artery infusion pump from Intera Oncology – now part of Boston Scientific – chemotherapy is delivered directly to liver tumors. This helps limit potential side effects and provides up to 400 times higher drug concentration to the tumors compared to systemic chemotherapy.  

2. Freezing cancer cells to prevent pain 

Thanks to advancements in cancer treatments, people are living longer with the disease. But for some patients, that can mean living with pain. In the case of Esther, an athletic mother of four whose breast cancer had spread, the culprit was a growing bone tumor. “The pain was mostly around my right shoulder blade. It was debilitating,” she recalls. Esther saw several oncologists about options to treat her pain, including radiation, which would consist of 10 treatments over two weeks. Instead, Esther chose the Visual-ICE™ Cryoablation System. 

The system uses extreme cold to destroy tissue such as tumors and lesions in organs including the kidneys, liver and lungs. In 2023, the Visual ICE system also received an expanded 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat pain associated with tumors that have metastasized to bone, like Esther’s debilitating mass. 

Esther’s procedure didn’t take long. While she was under anesthesia, her surgeon used a needle to inject compressed gas into her tumor to freeze it, destroying the cancerous cells in her bones that were responsible for her pain.  Esther went home the same day – and amazingly, just one week later, participated in a four-day athletic challenge that culminated in a marathon. “I crossed the finish line with a smile on my face,” says Esther. 

3. Reducing the radiation risks of prostate cancer  

The goal of radiation therapy is to kill cancer cells while avoiding damage to surrounding healthy tissue. However, avoiding such damage can be especially tricky when treating the prostate, which is surrounded by sensitive organs including the rectum and the bladder. As a result, prostate radiation can cause debilitating side effects including incontinence, chronic diarrhea and erectile dysfunction. 

When radiation oncologist James Gray, M.D., was diagnosed with prostate cancer, he remembers, “I had the same concerns any patient would have: ‘What are going to be the side effects?’” He decided to opt for a product he had often recommended to his own patients: SpaceOAR™ Hydrogel. 

An option for patients undergoing radiation therapy for prostate cancer, this absorbable hydrogel creates a temporary space between the prostate and the rectum and is designed to decrease radiation exposure to the rectum. The result, borne out in clinical studies, is that the use of SpaceOAR may reduce the risk of bowel incontinence or other related side effects of radiation therapy. After the procedure, the gel is absorbed and eliminated by the body. For Dr. Gray, who emerged from his radiation sessions free of worrisome side effects, using SpaceOAR as part of his own cancer treatment was “a no brainer.” 

Learn more about TheraSphere for liver cancer, the Visual ICE system for cryoablation and SpaceOAR for use during radiotherapy for prostate cancer.

Results from patient testimonies are not necessarily predictive of results in other cases. Results in other cases may vary. Speak with your doctor about the best treatment option for you.

***This story was updated on October 2, 2025.