Blood from around the body must pass through the liver, and this makes it one of the most accessible areas for cancer cells to thrive. A liver cancer diagnosis can be overwhelming, but there are now more treatment options than ever, depending on the cancer’s stage and severity. Whether you have personally been diagnosed with liver cancer or know someone that has, it is important to understand possible treatment options.
Treatment Specialists
As with many forms of cancer, people who have been diagnosed with liver cancer will most likely need to see a number of medical specialists to develop a comprehensive treatment plan. Oncologists are doctors who have focused their training on the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, but even within this field there are unique specializations. A gastroenterologist will often carry out initial tests and connect each patient with their own doctors to focus on the various treatments. From that point, a patient may be treated by radiation oncologists who use radiation to eradicate cancerous cells or medical oncologists who will take a more medicinal or surgical approach.
Surgical Treatment
When liver cancer is discovered in its earliest stages, surgery will often be the safest and most effective treatment available. If the rest of the liver is healthy, a surgeon can locate and remove the cancerous cells or tumor, allowing the remaining liver cells to function normally. The primary drawback of surgical treatment is that it requires early diagnosis, which difficult because there are few symptoms in the disease's early stages.
Transplants and Targeted Therapy
There are two primary reasons that surgical removal of a tumor may not be a viable option. One of the most common issues comes down to the health and functionality of the rest of the liver cells. If the patient also has an inflamed liver, diseases around the liver, or cirrhosis, removing just the tumor could permanently damage the liver itself. The other issue arises if the tumor has become too large to remove safely. If either of these are the case, a liver transplant is a somewhat riskier option, albeit one that has seen great success. In addition to a full transplant, targeted therapy such as chemotherapy or radiation may be considered.
Treatment for Advanced Liver Cancer
If the cancer has spread beyond the liver, affected most of the liver cells, or is recurrent, specialists will often attempt to slow the spread of the cancer cells to prolong the quality and length of their patient's life. This may be carried out by a battery of options used in conjunction with one another. Patients will often undergo full radiation therapy, chemotherapy where the cancer has spread, and embolization of major tumors to prevent blood from reaching them.
