Hepatocellular carcinoma treatment varies, depending on the severity and cause of the cancerous growths in the liver. For most patients, in 2011, the prognosis is not good, though advancements in medical technology have produced a number of treatment options that can cure the disease for some patients. The most effective treatment is the surgical removal of the cancer, though this is not possible in most cases. Radiation, chemotherapy, and freezing or heating the tumors are other treatments available for hepatocellular carcinoma. The outcome of these treatments varies considerably from patient to patient.
The best hepatocellular carcinoma treatment is surgical removal of the cancer from the liver. In some cases, the tumors themselves can be removed, while more advanced forms of the disease may require that part or all of the liver be taken out. Complications of hepatocellular carcinoma, however, make this treatment impossible for most patients with the condition. Patients who are candidates for surgical hepatocellular carcinoma treatment have the greatest chance for survival and recovery.
Most patients with hepatocellular carcinoma are treated with chemotherapy. This is a common treatment for many different cancers but is not generally effective against cancer of the liver, as the tumors are often resistant to chemotherapy. Linking chemotherapy drugs to tiny diamonds may be a successful treatment for liver cancer, though the technology is still in its infancy and is not yet being used in humans. Chemotherapy is more effective in young patients than it is in older patients. It can be given throughout the body or can be fed directly into the artery that joins the liver.
Radiation, which is often used to treat many types of cancer, is usually not an effective hepatocellular carcinoma treatment, though it is commonly used. The levels of radiation needed to kill the cancerous cells in the liver also kill healthy liver cells, which can lead to complications. The ability to focus radiation on only the diseased cells greatly improves a patient’s outlook after radiation therapy.
There are some other less frequently used hepatocellular carcinoma treatments as well. In radio-frequency ablation, probes are used to heat the tumors. The heat is sufficient to cook the tumor and the tissue around it. This is most effective against small tumors. The opposite technique, freezing tumors through the use of cryosurgery, can also be used, and is also most effective against small tumors.