liver and gallbladder disorders
Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Treatment of Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Surgery or liver transplantation Radiofrequency ablation, chemoembolization, or internal radiation therapy Chemotherapy and immunotherapy Treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma depends on the extent of the cancer. Small tumors limited to the liver can be treated with Liver Transplantation . Only liver transplantation or surgical removal of the cancer offers any hope of cure. However, when the cancer is surgically removed, it often recurs. Also, removing the cancer in people who have Cirrhosis of the Liver may not be possible because too much of their liver is damaged. When transplantation or surgery is not possible or when people are waiting for a liver transplant, treatments that focus on the tumor and areas around it can be used. These treatments may help slow the cancer's growth and relieve symptoms. For example, doctors may inject a chemical that destroys cancer cells into blood vessels to the cancer. Or they may use treatments that apply energy to cancer cells and thus destroy them. Three such treatments are Radiofrequency ablation (which uses electrical energy) Chemoembolization (which uses chemotherapy) Selective internal radiation therapy (which uses radiation) However, these treatments do not destroy all the cancer cells. Chemotherapy drugs can be injected into a blood vessel that supplies a tumor (called chemoembolization). For example, chemotherapy drugs can be injected into a vein or into the hepatic artery. Injecting chemotherapy drugs directly into the hepatic artery delivers a large amount of the drugs directly to the cancer cells in the liver. The chemotherapy drugsorafenibis effective against hepatocellular carcinoma. Other chemotherapy drugs (for example,lenvatinib,regorafenib) and some combinations that can include immunotherapy drugs (for example,tremelimumabplusdurvalumab, oratezolizumabplusbevacizumab) are now being used in some people with this cancer. 