Treatment Options for Liver Cancer

The treatment options for patients with liver cancer are influenced by a variety of factors including the stage of the disease, location of the tumor, and how well the liver is functioning (residual liver function). In general, the treatment options for liver cancer can be grouped into those treatments that are considered as curative versus those that are considered as palliative.

As implied by its name, a curative treatment is any type of treatment where the goal is to cure the underlying disease or condition. Currently, the only curative treatments available for liver cancer are surgical resection by partial hepatectomy (the cancerous segment of the liver is surgically removed) and liver transplantation. In contrast, any treatment that is designed to control the symptoms of the disease but does not cure the underlying cause of the disease is known as a palliative treatment. Palliative treatments are usually reserved for patients with advanced-stage liver cancer.