Can Sirtex turn cancer into a chronic disease?

Big things sometimes come in small packages. For Sirtex Medical, big things come in a really small package.

The Australian medical device company’s flagship product – the SIR-sphere – is made up of 30 million to 60 million microspheres about the size of a grain of sand, which are injected into the hepatic artery and flow into the liver where they kill tumors from the inside. The product is currently indicated for patients with Stage IV colorectal cancer that has spread to the liver.

Colorectal cancer is 1 of the most common, and deadliest, cancers in the world, primarily affecting people age 50 and older, and among cancers that affect both men and women, it is the 3rd-most-common cancer and the 2nd leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.

However, Sirtex’s North America president, Mike Mangano, told MassDevice.com recently that some 50% of patients suffering from colon cancer actually die from liver tumors. Sirtex’s treatment is designed to give these patients, for whom other treatments have failed, more time and its part of the company’s overall mission to turn cancer into a chronic disease.

Mangano joined Sirtex in 2010, after a 15-year run at Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX). In this episode of DeviceTalks, MassDevice.com publisher Brian Johnson talks with Mangano about the company, the learning curve he had of moving from a traditional medical device company to an oncology company and why the cancer market may be ripe for other medtech firms.

Did you know that you DeviceTalks is also a live event? Check out our website to find out how you can participate in a live taping of this terrific podcast.

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