Liver Cancer
Liver Cancer Treatments- Surgery, Chemotherapy, Radiation and Biologicals
In this article, you will learn about the different types of treatments doctors use for people diagnosed with liver cancer.
Overview
Treatment options for people with liver cancer are surgery (including a liver transplant), ablation,embolization, targeted therapy, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy. You may have a combination of treatments.
The treatment that's right for you depends mainly on the following:
- The number, size, and location of tumors in your liver
- How well your liver is working and whether you have cirrhosis
- Whether the cancer has spread outside your liver
- Other factors to consider include your age, general health, and concerns about the treatments and their possible side effects.
Surgery
Surgery is an option for people with an early stage of liver cancer. The surgeon may remove the whole liver or only the part that has cancer. If the whole liver is removed, it's replaced with healthy liver tissue from a donor.
Removal of part of the liver (Hepatectomy)
Surgery to remove part of the liver is called partial hepatectomy. A person with liver cancer may have part of the liver removed if lab tests show that the liver is working well and if there is no evidence that the cancer has spread to nearby lymph nodes or to other parts of the body.
The surgeon removes the tumor along with a margin of normal liver tissue around the tumor. The extent of the surgery depends on the size, number, and location of the tumors. It also depends on how well the liver is working.
As much as 80 percent of the liver may be removed. The surgeon leaves behind normal liver tissue. The remaining healthy tissue takes over the work of the liver. Also, the liver can regrow the missing part. The new cells grow over several weeks.
Liver transplant
A liver transplant is an option if the tumors are small, the disease has not spread outside the liver, and suitable donated liver tissue can be found.
Donated liver tissue comes from a deceased person or a live donor. If the donor is living, the tissue is part of a liver, rather than a whole liver.
While you wait for donated liver tissue to become available, the health care team monitors your health and provides other treatments.
When healthy liver tissue from a donor is available, the transplant surgeon removes your entire liver (total hepatectomy) and replaces it with the donated tissue. After surgery, your health care team will give you medicine to help control your pain. You may need to stay in the hospital for several weeks. During that time, your health care team monitors how well your body is accepting the new liver tissue. You'll take medicine to prevent your body's immune system from rejecting the new liver.
Ablation
Methods of ablation destroy the cancer in the liver. They are treatments to control liver cancer and extend life. This may be used for people who can't have surgery or a liver transplant or for people waiting for a liver transplant . Surgery to remove the tumor may not be possible because of cirrhosis or other conditions that cause poor liver function, the location of the tumor within the liver, or other health problems.
Methods of ablation include the following:
- Radiofrequency ablation: The doctor uses a special probe that contains tiny electrodes to kill the cancer cells with heat. Ultrasound, CT, or MRI may be used to guide the probe to the tumor. Usually, the doctor can insert the probe directly through your skin, and only local anesthesia is needed. Sometimes, surgery under general anesthesia is needed. The doctor inserts the probe through a small incision in your abdomen (using a laparoscope) or through a wider incision that opens your abdomen.Some people have pain or a slight fever after this procedure. Staying overnight in the hospital is not usually needed. Radiofrequency ablation is a type of hyperthermia therapy. Other therapies that use heat to destroy liver tumors include laser or microwave therapy. They are used less often than radiofrequency ablation.
- Percutaneous ethanol injection: The doctor uses ultrasound to guide a thin needle into the liver tumor. Alcohol (ethanol) is injected directly into the tumor and kills cancer cells. The procedure may be performed once or twice a week. Usually local anesthesia is used, but if you have many tumors in the liver, general anesthesia may be needed. You may have fever and pain after the injection.
Embolization
For those who can't have surgery or a liver transplant, embolization or chemoembolization may be an option. The doctor inserts a tiny catheter into an artery in your leg and moves the catheter into the hepatic artery. For embolization, the doctor injects tiny sponges or other particles into the catheter. The particles block the flow of blood through the artery. Depending on the type of particles used, the blockage may be temporary or permanent. Without blood flow from the hepatic artery, the tumor dies. Although the hepatic artery is blocked, healthy liver tissue continues to receive blood from the hepatic portal vein. For chemoembolization, the doctor injects an anticancer drug (chemotherapy) into the artery before injecting the tiny particles that block blood flow. Without blood flow, the drug stays in the liver longer. You'll need to be sedated for this procedure, but general anesthesia is not usually needed. You'll probably stay in the hospital for 2 to 3 days after the treatment. Embolization often causes abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and fever. Some people may feel very tired for several weeks after the treatment.
Targeted Therapy
People with liver cancer who can't have surgery or a liver transplant may receive a drug called targeted therapy. Sorafenib tablets were the first targeted therapy approved for liver cancer.Targeted therapy slows the growth of liver tumors. It also reduces their blood supply. The drug is taken by mouth. Side effects include nausea, vomiting, mouth sores, and loss of appetite. Sometimes, a person may have chest pain, bleeding problems, or blisters on the hands or feet. The drug can also cause high blood pressure. The health care team will check your blood pressure often during the first 6 weeks of treatment.
Radiation Therapy
Radiation therapy uses high-energy rays to kill cancer cells. It may be an option for a few people who can't have surgery. Sometimes it's used with other approaches. Radiation therapy also may be used to help relieve pain from liver cancer that has spread to the bones.
Doctors use two types of radiation therapy to treat liver cancer:
- External radiation therapy: The radiation comes from a large machine. The machine aims beams of radiation at the chest and abdomen.
- Internal radiation therapy: The radiation comes from tiny radioactive spheres. A doctor uses a catheter to inject the tiny spheres into your hepatic artery. The spheres destroy the blood supply to the liver tumor.
The side effects from radiation therapy include nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea. Your health care team can suggest ways to treat or control the side effects.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy, the use of drugs to kill cancer cells, is sometimes used to treat liver cancer. Drugs are usually given by vein (intravenous). The drugs enter the bloodstream and travel throughout your body. The side effects of chemotherapy depend mainly on which drugs are given and how much. Common side effects include nausea and vomiting, loss of appetite, headache, fever and chills, and weakness.
Some drugs lower the levels of healthy blood cells, and you're more likely to get infections, bruise or bleed easily, and feel very weak and tired. Your health care team will check for low levels of blood cells. Some side effects may be relieved with medicine.
If treatment does not work
Recovery from cancer is not always possible. If the cancer cannot be cured or controlled, the disease may be called advanced or terminal.
This diagnosis is stressful, and for many people, advanced cancer is difficult to discuss. However, it is important to have open and honest conversations with your health care team to express your feelings, preferences, and concerns. The health care team has special skills, experience, and knowledge to support patients and their families and is there to help. Making sure a person is physically comfortable, free from pain, and emotionally supported is extremely important.
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