Healthcheck: Nemours kids cancer treatment

Four-year-old Blakleigh Lipe is now cancer-free after having a new procedure at Nemours DuPont Hospital in Delaware.

Just over a year ago, Blakleigh had a massive tumor on her liver.

Chemotherapy didn't work, and conventional radiation would have damaged too much healthy tissue surrounding the cancer. Instead, doctors put radioactive micro-beads directly to the tumor site through the liver's blood vessels.

The process is called trans-arterial radioembolization with Y-90.

"It has been FDA-approved for about 20 years and is used very frequently in adults, but we are just starting to use it in children," said Dr. Allison Aguado of Nemours Kids Cancer Center.

The radiation shrank the tumor, making it small enough for doctors to surgically remove it.

The procedure can also be used to buy time when kids are waiting for a transplant.

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