What are different treatment options available for treating liver cancer?
These are some of the treatments available:
- Surgery,
- Immunotherapy,
- Photodynamic Therapy,
- Hyperthermia,
- Radiation Therapy
- Radiosurgery
The best option for curing liver cancer is surgery.
Other techniques used to treat liver cancer are:
- Including inserting needles into the tumor.
- Destroying the tumor (ablation).
- Injecting a substance into the tumor to deprive it of the blood supply it needs (embolization).
- Chemotherapy
- Radiation therapy
The best treatment for the liver cancer is based on:
- 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.
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).
- The presence of cirrhosis of the liver makes surgical resection less successful.
- It may require the entire liver to be removed and replaced with a donated liver (liver transplant).
- Surgery depends on whether the part of your liver that is not affected by the cancer is healthy.
- When part of your liver is removed, enough healthy liver tissue left is to be taken care of, 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.
- This process uses high-energy radio waves, alcohol injections and 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.
- It 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.
Radiation Therapy
- Radiation therapy uses high-energy radiation to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors.
- Radiation therapy for liver cancer is usually delivered internally.
- It is done 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).
Hepatocellular Carcinoma
- Partial hepatectomy to resect the entire tumor.
- Liver transplantation.
- Cryoablation.
- Chemoembolization.
- Radiotherapy.
- Sorafenib.
- Radiofrequency ablation.
- Radiofrequency ablation combined with local chemotherapy.
Cholangiocarcinoma
- Photodynamic therapy.
- Brachytherapy.
- Radiotherapy.
- Liver transplantation.
Hepatoblastoma
- Chemotherapy, including vincristine, cyclophosphamide, and doxorubicin.
- Radiotherapy.
- Liver transplantation.
- Surgical resection.
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Categories: Body, Cancer, Cells, Chemotherapy, Complications, digestion, Digestive, Disease, Disorder, growth, health, Healthy, Liver, Metabolism, Radiation Therapy, Surgery Tags: Body, Brain, Break down, Chemicals, Cholesterol, Detoxification, Detoxify, digestion, Fats, Functions, health, Healthy, Human, Hyperthermia, Immunotherapy, Liver, Metabolism, Organs, Photodynamic Therapy, Radiation therapy, Radiosurgery, Regulate, Store, Sugar, Surgery, Vital
How is liver cancer diagnosed?
Liver cancer is also known as hepatocellular carcinoma, HCC. It is a cancer that originates in liver. Liver cancers are malignant tumors that grow on the surface or inside the liver.
Diagnosis of Liver Cancer
Blood Tests
- Liver cancer depends so much on the vigilance of the physician screening with a tumor marker (alpha-fetoprotein) in the blood and radiological imaging studies.
- If the blood tests become abnormal or worsen due to liver cancer, this usually signifies extensive cancerous involvement of the liver.
- in liver cancer, the cancerous liver cells may take on the characteristics of other types of cells.
- For example, liver cancer cells sometimes can produce hormones that are ordinarily produced in other body systems.
- These hormones then can cause certain abnormal blood tests
- These include a high red blood count (erythrocytosis), low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) and high blood calcium (hypercalcemia).
- High serum cholesterol (hypercholesterolemia), is seen in up to 10% of patients from Africa with liver cancer.
- The high cholesterol occurs because the liver cancer cells are not able to turn off (inhibit) their production of cholesterol.
- There is no reliable or accurate screening blood test for liver cancer.
- The most widely used biochemical blood test is alpha-fetoprotein (AFP)
- AFP is a protein normally made by the immature liver cells in the fetus.
In adults, high blood levels (over 500 nanograms/milliliter) of AFP are seen in only three situations:
- Liver cancer.
- Germ cell tumors (cancer of the testes and ovaries).
- Metastatic cancer in the liver (originating in other organs).
There are a number of other liver cancer tumor markers like:
- Des-gamma-carboxyprothrombin (DCP),
- A variant of the gamma-glutamyltransferase enzymes,
- Variants of other enzymes (for example, alpha-L-fucosidase).
Imaging Studies
These studies provide information
- as to the size of the tumor.
- the number of tumors.
- whether the tumor has involved major blood vessels locally or spread outside of the liver.
Ultrasound Examination
- It is usually the first study ordered if liver cancer is suspected in a patient.
- The accuracy of an ultrasound depends very much on the technician and radiologist.
- Computerized axial tomography (CT scan) is a very common study used in the U.S.
- The ideal CT study is a multi-phase, spiral CT scan using oral and intravenous contrast material.
Pictures are taken in three phases:
- Without intravenous contrast.
- With intravenous contrast (enhanced imaging) that highlights the arterial system (arterial phase).
- When the contrast is in the venous phase.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
- It can provide very clear images of the body.
- Its advantage over CT is that MRI can provide sectional views of the body in different planes.
Others
- If there is uncertainty about the diagnosis, the presence of liver cancer may be confirmed with a biopsy.
- Tissue from the liver is removed through a needle or during an operation and checked under a microscope for the presence of cancer cells.
- Laproscopy is another method.
Staging
The following stages are used for adult primary liver cancer:
- Localized resectable
Cancer is found in one place in the liver and can be completely removed by surgery.
- Localized unresectable
Cancer is found only in one part of the liver, but the cancer cannot be totally removed.
- Advanced
Cancer has spread through much of the liver or to other parts of the body.
- Recurrent
Cancer has come back or recurred after it was treated. It may come back in the liver or in another part of the body.
Categories: Body, Cancer, Cells, Complications, cure, Detection, Diagnosis, digestion, Digestive System, Disease, Disorder, growth, health, Healthy, Liver, Metabolism Tags: Blood tests, Body, Brain, Break down, Chemicals, Cholesterol, Detoxification, Detoxify, Diagnosis, digestion, Fats, Functions, health, Healthy, Human, Imaging, Liver, Metabolism, MRI, Organs, Regulate, Staging, Store, Sugar, Ultrasound, Vital