Primary Liver Cancer
OVERVIEW
Primary liver cancer is a disease of the gastrointestinal system in which cancerous cells start to grow in the tissues of the liver, one of the largest organs in the body. The liver plays an important role in making food into energy. It also filters and stores blood. In 2007, the American Cancer Society estimates that 19,000 men and women in the United States will be diagnosed with primary liver cancer.
The Cancer Center features the following for patients with primary liver cancer:
- board-certified gastroenterologist, surgical oncologist and medical oncologists who are highly skilled in the latest technologies and techniques to diagnose, treat, and manage primary liver cancer
- state-of-the-art diagnostic technology and imaging studies
- clinical trials to investigate new medications and treatment methods
- a full range of support services
DIAGNOSTIC SERVICES
Your doctor may use several different approaches to diagnose primary liver cancer. The Cancer Center offers:
- CT scan
- MRI
- fine needle aspiration biopsy
- chest X-ray
- laparoscopy
- angiogram
- blood tests
RISK FACTORS
Risk factors for primary liver cancer include:
- cirrhosis (scarring)
- chronic hepatitis B and C infections
- long-term exposure to aflatoxin, a substance produced in tropical or subtropical regions by a fungus that contaminates certain food crops
- chemicals (vinyl chloride and thorium dioxide)
- oral contraceptives
- anabolic steroids
- drinking water contaminated with arsenic
SYMPTOMS
The symptoms of primary liver cancer include:
- a hard lump just below the rib cage on the right side where the liver has swollen
- weight loss
- discomfort in the upper abdomen on the right side
- pain around the right shoulder blade
- jaundice (yellowing of the skin or the whites of the eyes)
TREATMENT SERVICES
A combination of treatment methods is usually used for primary liver cancer. Most include a surgical procedure, which may be combined with chemotherapy.
Surgery
At The Cancer Center, we have several surgical oncologists who specialize in treating only cancers of the digestive system, including primary liver cancer. Most treatment plans for primary liver cancer include a surgical procedure, such as:
- resection (removal of the part of the liver where cancer was found)
- liver transplant (removal of the entire liver and replacement with a healthy liver donated from someone else)
- radiofrequency ablation (the use of radio waves directed into a tumor that heat up the malignant tissue and then destroy it)
- cryosurgery (the use of liquid nitrogen and extreme cold temperatures to freeze the malignant tissue in order to destroy it)
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy may be used to treat primary liver cancer, sometimes as an adjuvant (additional) treatment to other methods. One of the following types of chemotherapy may be used:
- systemic (medications are delivered into a vein or artery)
- regional chemotherapy (medication is delivered directly into the blood vessels that go to the tumor via a pump that is placed in the body)
- chemoembolization of the hepatic artery (blocking the hepatic artery, which supplies blood to the liver, and then injecting chemotherapy drugs or other drugs between the blockage and the liver)