Your stage of liver cancer and your overall health will determine the method your doctor recommends for treating your illness. The best option for curing liver cancer is surgery. Other techniques used to treat liver cancer include inserting needles into the tumor and destroying the tumor (ablation) and injecting a substance into the tumor to deprive it of the blood supply it needs (embolization). Chemotherapy and radiation therapy are also used, usually to stop the cancer from growing and treat its symptoms.
Your doctor will work with you to choose the best treatment for your liver cancer based on:
- Your age, overall health, and medical history
- Extent of the disease
- Stage of the cancer
- Your tolerance of specific medicines, procedures, or therapies
- Expectations for the course of the disease
- Your opinion or preference
All treatments have benefits and risks. You and your doctor should carefully balance the potential benefits of any cancer treatment with its potential risks.
After the liver cancer is diagnosed and staged, your physician will recommend a treatment plan.
Treatment may include:
-
Surgery - Surgery is the only way to cure liver cancer. The most common type of surgery for liver cancer is resection (removal of the cancer). Sometimes the presence of cirrhosis of the liver makes surgical resection less successful and may require the entire liver to be removed and replaced with a donated liver (liver transplant). Whether you can have surgery depends on whether the part of your liver that is not affected by the cancer is healthy. After part of your liver is removed, you need to have enough healthy liver tissue left to carry out all of the critical jobs of the liver.
-
Ablation - Ablation destroys the tumor without removing it. It is a good option for patients with small liver tumors who cannot have their tumors removed by surgery. Ablation uses high-energy radio waves, alcohol injections, or very cold metal probes to destroy the tumor.
-
Embolization - Tumors need the oxygen supplied by blood to grow. Embolization stops blood from flowing to the tumor. Embolization can be done by injecting substances that plug the artery. This is sometimes combined with chemotherapy (chemoembolization) or radiation therapy (radioembolization).
-
Chemotherapy - Chemotherapy drugs kill cancerous cells. In most cases, chemotherapy works by stopping cancer cells from growing or reproducing, which kills the cells. Chemotherapy may be taken by mouth in pill form or injected into a vein or muscle. Sometimes it is injected into a hepatic artery through a thin tube (catheter). This process is known as chemoembolization. The main chemotherapy drugs for liver cancer are Adriamycin® (doxorubicin), Adrucil® or Efudex® (5-fluorouracil or 5-FU), FUDR® (floxuridine), and Platinol® (cisplatin).
-
Radiation therapy - Radiation therapy uses high-energy radiation to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. Radiation therapy for liver cancer is usually delivered internally by inserting a radioactive substance into the body.
-
Targeted therapy - Targeted therapy blocks the steps involved in the growth and proliferation of cancer cells. Targeted therapy drug may be taken by mouth or in a pill form. The main targeted therapy for liver cancer is a drug called Nexavar® (sorafenib tosylate).
This content has been reviewed and approved by Myo Thant, MD.