Liver Cancer Treatment & Ongoing Care

Radiation Therapy

A. External Beam Radiotherapy

External beam radiotherapy has traditionally not been worthwhile for the patient with either primary cancer of or metastatic to the liver. Radiation can certainly injure tumor cells. However, the doses necessary to kill tumor cells severely injure the surrounding normal liver cells, resulting in radiation induced hepatitis in a significant percentage of patients. New computer generated dosing techniques such as conformal radiation will allow a tighter focus on the diseased liver, allowing sparing of radiographically uninvolved liver. However, at present, radiation is still a second to third line therapy.

B. Transarterial Internal Radiation with Yttrium Microspheres

Two companies now produce radioactive Yttrium for intra-arterial injection. Y-90 delivers high dose radiation to the areas of liver whiach are exposed to tiny beads composed either of glass or rosin with the Yttrium attached to these beads. It is not yet known where the Yttrium intra-arterial radiation will fit in the the schema of second-line treatment for liver cancers. Yttrium microspheres have only been approved by the FDA since 2000.

Contact my office to learn more about the pros and cons of Radiation Therapy or other types of liver cancer treatment.