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Glass vs resin microspheres: how the Y-90 bead is chosen | CION Cancer Clinics
Neither glass nor resin microspheres are better for everyone. Both carry yttrium-90 and treat liver tumours from inside their arteries, but they differ in how much radiation each bead holds and how many are needed. This page explains the difference, what makes the team choose one, and why the bead matters less than the decision to use Y-90 at all. At CION Cancer Clinics, a multidisciplinary tumour board weighs your liver function and your scans before recommending any treatment.
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Medically reviewed by Dr. Naresh GunduConsultant Medical Oncologist · MBBS, DNB (Internal Medicine), DM (Medical Oncology, AIIMS) · last reviewed October 2026, next review due October 2027
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The short answer
Is glass or resin better for Y-90?
Neither is better for everyone. Glass and resin microspheres both carry the same radioactive element, yttrium-90, and both treat liver tumours from inside their arteries. They differ in how much radiation each bead holds and how many beads are needed, and the interventional radiologist picks the one that fits your tumour and the plan.
What a microsphere is
Y-90 radioembolisation, also called TARE, works by sending millions of tiny beads, each finer than a grain of sand, into the arteries that feed a liver tumour. Liver tumours draw most of their blood from these arteries, while healthy liver relies mostly on the portal vein. So the beads settle mainly in the tumour and give off radiation over a short distance, for a limited time, before the radiation fades away.
Why there are two kinds
Two products were developed in parallel. One makes the beads from glass and loads a lot of radiation into each one. The other makes them from a resin and loads less radiation into each bead, so many more beads are used. That single difference shapes almost everything else on this page.
This page is about primary liver cancer and cancer that has spread to the liver. The bead choice is the same question in both; the treatment decision around it is not.Side by side
How do glass and resin microspheres differ?
Glass microspheres
Resin microspheres
Glass: a lot of radiation in each bead
Resin: much less radiation in each bead
Glass: far fewer beads are injected
Resin: many more beads are injected
Glass: blood keeps flowing through the artery afterwards
Resin: the beads partly block the artery as well as irradiating it
Glass: often chosen to give a very high dose to a small part of the liver
Resin: often chosen to spread treatment across a larger area
Glass: the injection is usually quick to give
Resin: given slowly, watching the flow, to avoid backing up
Glass: developed first for primary liver cancer
Resin: developed first for cancer that spread to the liver
How the choice is made
What makes the team choose one bead over the other?
The bead type is a technical choice made after the mapping scan. Four things usually drive it.
How much liver is being treated
When the tumour sits in one small segment, glass beads can deliver a very high dose to that segment alone. This approach, called radiation segmentectomy, aims to destroy the tumour and the small piece of liver around it. For a wider area, either bead can be used.
The tumour's blood flow
Resin beads slow the flow as they go in. In a tumour with sluggish arteries, or one growing into the portal vein, that can make a full resin dose hard to give. Glass beads, being fewer, are less affected.
The mapping scan
The planning visit shows how much tracer escapes to the lungs or gut. Both beads have to respect a safe lung dose, but the sums are done differently for each.
See also
- Why a high lung shunt can rule Y-90 out
- Why gut vessels are sometimes blocked first
What the centre has and knows
Not every centre stocks both, and teams build experience with one. Supply of the radioactive beads can also be limited in India. A team working well with the bead it uses often matters more than the bead itself.
Not sure whether this applies to you?
Ask an oncologistCommonly believed
Four things families assume about the two beads
"The more expensive bead must work better."
Price reflects how the product is made, imported and supplied, not how well it treats your tumour. There is no good evidence that one bead works better than the other for everyone.
"We should insist on the bead a relative had."
The right bead depends on the size and position of the tumour, its blood flow and the mapping result. Two people with the same diagnosis can sensibly receive different beads.
"Glass beads are safer because they do not block the artery."
Both have side effects, and both can harm healthy liver if too much reaches it. Safety comes from careful planning and dose calculation, not from the material.
"Y-90 replaces the need for any other treatment."
Y-90 treats the tumours in the liver. It is often one part of a plan that may include medicines, surgery or a transplant assessment, decided by the tumour board.
For your family
Should the bead type change our decision?
For most families, no. The bigger question is whether Y-90 is the right treatment at all, compared with TACE, ablation, surgery or medicines. Once Y-90 is chosen, the bead is a detail the interventional radiologist settles with the nuclear medicine team. It is fair to ask which bead is planned and why, and a good team will explain it in a sentence or two.
Who this choice does not apply to
If your liver function is poor, for example with jaundice or fluid in the abdomen (ascites), Y-90 of either kind is usually unsafe, and the bead question never arises. It also does not apply if the cancer has spread widely outside the liver, where treatment through the bloodstream usually comes first. Cancer that spread to the liver from the bowel is planned within the colon cancer pathway.
Where it is done and what it costs
CION does not perform Y-90 itself. The tumour board decides whether it fits, and CION coordinates the mapping visit and the treatment through accredited partner hospitals. Y-90 is quoted separately, and the price varies with the bead, the dose and the hospital, so ask for a written, itemised estimate before the mapping visit.
Being straight with you
What this page cannot tell you
It cannot tell you which bead suits your tumour. That depends on scans, the mapping result and liver blood tests that only your treating team has in front of them. It cannot tell you whether Y-90 will work for you, or how long its effect will last. Nobody can promise that in advance.
Where the evidence is thin
The two beads have rarely been compared directly in large trials. Much of what is known comes from studies of one product at a time, in different groups of patients, so comparisons between them are uncertain. Ask your team plainly how strong the evidence is for the approach they suggest.
If you have been offered Y-90 and want the plan checked, the CION tumour board can review your scans and mapping report and explain the choice.Questions we are asked
Common questions about glass and resin microspheres
Do glass and resin beads use the same radiation?
Yes. Both carry yttrium-90, which gives off radiation over a very short distance and fades within days. The difference is how much is packed into each bead and therefore how many beads are needed. The radiation does not stay in your body for long.
Are both available in India?
Both have been used in India, but only at a limited number of hospitals, and supply of the radioactive beads can vary. Which one a hospital uses at a given time depends on stock and experience. Your team will confirm what is available before you book the mapping visit.
Does one bead cause fewer side effects?
The common side effects, such as tiredness, mild pain, nausea and a loss of appetite for a short time, occur with both. Resin can cause a little more discomfort during the injection because it slows blood flow. Serious harm depends mainly on planning and liver function.
Can I ask for a particular bead?
You can ask why one is planned, and you should get a clear answer. Insisting on a different bead is rarely wise, because the choice rests on your tumour's position, its blood flow and the mapping result. A second opinion is a better route if you have doubts.
Is the cost different between glass and resin?
It can be, because the beads are priced and imported differently. The total also includes the mapping visit, the hospital stay and follow-up scans. Ask the partner hospital for a written, itemised estimate covering all of these before you agree to treatment.
Does the bead type affect the lung shunt?
The shunt belongs to your tumour, not the bead, and is measured the same way. What changes is how the safe lung dose is calculated for each product. The lung shunting page explains why a high shunt can rule Y-90 out.
Can Y-90 be repeated with a different bead?
Sometimes a second area of the liver is treated later, and the team may use whichever bead fits that area. Repeating treatment to the same area is limited by how much radiation the healthy liver has already received, so it needs careful review.
Who should I talk to about the bead choice?
The interventional radiologist who will give the treatment makes the choice with the nuclear medicine physician. Your oncologist can explain how it fits the wider plan. Call the CION helpline if you want the tumour board to look at your reports.
Your Specialists
Meet CION's liver cancer specialists. Bring your scan reports and liver blood tests.
Our medical and surgical oncologists plan liver cancer care together, weighing the tumour and how well your liver works before choosing surgery, a liver-directed procedure or medicines.
Medical Oncologist
Dr. C. Raghavendra Reddy
MBBS(Gold Medal), DNB(General Medicine), DM(Medical Oncology)(Gold Medal)
Medical Oncologist
Dr. Bharati Devi Gorantla
MBBS, MD(General Medicine), DM(Medical Oncology)(Adyar,Chennai), ECMO, MRCP SCE(UK)
Medical Oncologist
Dr. Owais Mohammed
MBBS, MD (General Medicine), DrNB (Medical Oncology), ECMO, MRCP SCE (Medical Oncology) (UK)
Medical Oncologist
Medical Oncologist
Surgical Oncologist
Dr. Muralidhar Muddusetty
MBBS (AIIMS), MS (Surgery) (AIIMS), DNB (Surgical Oncology), MRCS (Edinburgh)
Surgical Oncologist
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Sources
- RadiologyInfo.org (RSNA/ACR) — Radioembolization (Y90)
- American Cancer Society — Embolization Therapy for Liver Cancer
- EASL — EASL Clinical Practice Guidelines: management of hepatocellular carcinoma
- Macmillan Cancer Support — Liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma HCC)
This page is general information, not a prescription. Do not change or stop any treatment based on what you read here. If anything is worrying you, contact your own treating team — or call our helpline and we will help you reach the right specialist.
Keep reading
Related pages
TARE and Y-90 radioembolisation explainedThe treatment itself, before the bead choiceLung shunting and why it can rule out Y-90The mapping result that applies to both beadsY-90 cost in IndiaWhat builds the bill and how to get an estimateWhere Y-90 is available in IndiaSupply and access before you plan travel
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Offered Y-90 and unsure about the plan?
Share your scans and the mapping report, and the tumour board will explain whether Y-90 fits and why a particular bead was chosen. One helpline serves every CION centre.