Liver Cancer Treatment  

Once your doctor knows the type and stage of your cancer, he will determine the most appropriate treatment to fight the tumor. In addition, he will evaluate your health, age and other problems that may interfere with the treatment. In most cases, you will receive a combination of therapy. For primary liver cancer, treatment may include the following: 

Partial hepatectomy 

 This surgical intervention is performed to remove a portion of the liver. Partial hepatectomy cannot be used in all liver malignancy; generally, it is reserved for tumors less than 5 cm in diameter, or if the cancer has not invaded the great vessels. Partial hepatectomy can also be performed if there is no metastasis outside the liver. 5 to 10% of cases of liver cancer are treated effectively with partial hepatectomy.  

Liver transplant surgery 

If the cancer is small, even if it is associated with cirrhosis, your surgeon may perform a liver transplant. It is a radical operation during which, your diseased liver is replaced with a healthy liver obtained from a donor. Liver transplantation can provide good results for some patients, but there are contraindications and waiting time is often long. In addition, you will have to take immunosuppressant drugs for the rest of your life after the transplant, which often cause serious health problems.  

Radiofrequency ablation  

If the transplant is not possible, your doctor can use electric current to heat and destroy the cancer cells; this therapeutic method is called radiofrequency ablation. 

Chemoembolization  

During the chemoembolization, your doctor blocks all blood supply to the tumor, and injects powerful chemotherapy drugs directly into the arteries of the liver to facilitate the destruction of the cancer cells. Chemoembolization must be repeated every two to four months.  

Radiation therapy (Radiotherapy) 

Radiation therapy is a local regional treatment consists of using high-powered energy beams to destroy cancer cells. Radiation therapy can shrink the tumor and reduce pain associated with the cancer, but radiation therapy is effective in only a small percentage of patients. Most liver cancers are treated ineffectively with radiotherapy.  

Injection of alcohol into the tumor 

If you were diagnosed with a small-sized liver cancer, or in case there few small tumors in your liver, repeated injections of alcohol directly into the tumor can lead to necrosis of cancer cells. This therapy rarely leads to complete recovery; it is a palliative treatment aims at prolonging life of liver cancer patients. 

Cryoablation (freezing cancer cells)  

Cryoablation is a new therapeutic method consisting of using extreme cold to destroy primary tumors and inoperable metastases. Cryoablation can be used as a unique therapy, or in combination with other therapies such as surgery, chemotherapy or other standard treatments.  

                       Stages                                                           Survival Rates