This year alone, approximately 22,600 new cases of liver cancer are expected to be diagnosed. The liver, which is the largest organ in the abdomen, is a very extremely important organ because it aids in the digestion of food and removes harmful substances from the blood.
Alcohol-related cirrhosis and liver disease associated with obesity and diabetes are the main causes of liver cancer. The fact that incidence rates of liver cancer have been on the rise since the 1980’s isn’t surprising given that the rates of obesity and diabetes have reached epidemic proportions over the past couple of decades.
Treatment for liver cancer depends largely on the size of the tumor, how well the liver still works if it is affected by cirrhosis and whether or not the cancer has spread to other parts of the body. A combination of one or more of the following treatments can take place:
Some treatment options for liver cancer
- Surgery
- Surgery where a portion of the liver that houses the tumor is removed (called a partial hepactectomy), or an entire liver transplantation (called a total hepactectomy) are potential treatment options for when liver cancer is diagnosed in the early stages of disease.
- Ablation
- A type of treatment that destroys the liver tumor when surgery is not an option, ablation is used in instances where there are only a few small tumors or in those who are waiting to have a liver transplant. Types of ablation include radiofrequency ablation, where electrodes use heat to kill the cancerous liver cells, and percutaneous ethanol injections, where ethanol alcohol is injected directly into the tumor.
- Embolization
- Another type of treatment that is used when surgery is not an option. A substance is injected into an artery that is then carried to the tumor to block the blood flow necessary for the tumor to grow. Chemotherapy is also sometimes injected during embolization.
- Radiotherapy
- The use of high energy waves to kill cancerous cells, radiation therapy is an option for those who can not undergo any type of liver surgery. It also is used to help alleviate pain when the liver cancer has spread to the surrounding bones.
- Chemotherapy
- Sometimes chemotherapy, the use of high toxic drugs that kill any rapidly dividing cells, is used in liver cancer treatment. Because chemotherapy is not selective in only killing cancer cells, severe and debilitating side effects can occur in some people.
- Targeted Therapy
- Targeted therapies new, innovative treatments that have been designed to fight the underlying genetic causes of cancer. Given as a pill, Nexavar is the first targeted therapy approved for the treatment of liver cancer. It is used in people who are unable to undergo surgery or a liver transplant and works by stopping the cancer cells from dividing and blocking the growth of blood vessels needed for the tumor to grow.
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