Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd has signed an exclusive in-licensing agreement with Sirtex Medical Pvt Ltd (Sirtex), Australia, to promote and market Sirtex''s liver cancer product, SIR-Spheres, which has been approved by the US Food and Drug Authority.

The product is used for the treatment of patients with inoperable tumours from primary colorectal cancer that have spread to the liver (unresectable metastatic liver tumours from primary colorectal cancer).

"We are pleased to partner with Sirtex, Australia, for this unique, high technology product -SIR Spheres," said Sanjeev Dani, senior vice president and regional director, Asia & CIS, of the Company, said. "We shall work towards creating a productive relationship by complementing each others strengths. The agreement will enable Ranbaxy to further strengthen our position in oncology segment"

SIR-Spheres are biocompatible radioactive micro-spheres that contain yttrium-90 and emit bcta radiation. They are implanted using a syringe and travel via the blood stream, to target the tumours within the liver. Once targeted to the tumour, SIR-Spheres irradiate it by a process known as ''selective internal radiation therapy'' (SIRT), leading to the destructs ion of the tumour, whilst most of the normal liver tissue remains relatively unaffected.

Ranbaxy says that the product has been used to treat "many hundreds of patients with liver cancer in Australia, USA, Europe, New Zealand and Asia in a variety of clinical trials and general practice."

Hepato-cellular cancer (HCC) is the fifth most common cancer in the world and fourth leading cause of cancer deaths in the world. Though HCC was rare in the West and common in Asian Pacific region, its incidence has been increasing globally and now in the West colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common cancers.

According to 2001 estimates, about 12,750 new patients were diagnosed in India with HCC. Ranbaxy says the prevalence of HCC In India is about 5 patients per 100,000 population and men are affected twice as often as women. The incidence is 2.77 males and 1.28 females per 100,000 people. The mean age at diagnosis is between 50-60 years.

The incidence of CRC is rising in India both amongst men and women. Currently the prevalence is close to 4 cases per 100,000 population. For the year 2001, it was estimated that the incidence of colorectal cancer in India would he 18,427 in men and 13,092 in women. This is similar to the number diagnosed annually in the UK.

More than 90 per cent of CRC cancer occurs in patients older than 50 years. Obesity, tobacco use, dietary factors, inflammatory bowel disease are among the risk factors associated with CRC.

Sirtex Medical''s principal activities include research, development and commercialisation of treatments for liver cancer. The company was formed in 1997 to acquire and commercialise a portfolio of three technologies relating to the treatment of liver cancer developed by the CRI and Dr Bruce Gray.