The treatment for liver cancer depends on the stage of the condition. The main treatment options are mentioned below:
Surgical resection
Depending on the site and size of the cancer, surgery can involve removing anything from a small wedge of liver to up to 80% of the liver. The liver tissue that is removed can grow back. Even if you have more than half your liver removed, it can grow back to normal size in a matter of weeks. But the liver does not grow back so well if you have cirrhosis. So you are more likely to have this type of surgery if you do not have cirrhosis.
Liver transplant
A liver transplant involves removing a cancerous liver and replacing it with a healthy one from a donor.
This is a major operation and there’s a risk of potentially life-threatening complications. A liver transplant may be suitable for you if:
- you only have a single tumour less than 5cm (50mm) in diameter
- you have three or fewer small tumours, each less than 3cm (30mm)
- you have responded exceptionally well to other treatments, with no evidence of tumour growth for six months
If you have multiple tumours or a tumour larger than 5cm, the risk of the cancer returning is usually so high that a liver transplant will be of no benefit.
Microwave or radiofrequency ablation
Microwave or radiofrequency ablation (RFA) may be recommended as an alternative to surgery to treat liver cancer at an early stage, ideally when the tumour or tumours are smaller than 5cm (50mm) in diameter.
They can also be used to treat tumours larger than this, but the treatment may need to be repeated in such cases.
These treatments involve heating the tumours with microwaves or radio waves produced by small, needle-like electrodes. This heat kills the cancer cells and causes the tumours to shrink.
Similar procedures using lasers or freezing can also achieve the same result.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy uses powerful cancer-killing medications to slow the spread of liver cancer.
A type of chemotherapy called transcatheter arterial chemoembolisation (TACE) is usually recommended to treat cases of stage B and C liver cancer. In these cases, the treatment can prolong life, but cannot cure the cancer.
TACE may also be used to help prevent cancer spreading out of the liver in people waiting for a liver transplant.
Alcohol injections
If you only have a few small tumours, alcohol (ethanol) injections may be used as a treatment. A needle passes through the skin to inject alcohol into the cancerous cells. This dehydrates the cells and stops their blood supply.
In most cases, this is carried out under a local anaesthetic
Sorafenib
Sorafenib is a medication given in tablet form that can disrupt the blood supply to liver tumours and slow down their growth.
It’s sometimes used as a treatment for advanced cases of liver cancer.
Reference
http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Cancer-of-the-liver/Pages/Treatment.aspx
