When many liver cancer patients know they have liver cancer, most of them are very anxious to get treatment as soon as possible, but nowadays there are many liver cancer treatment methods, so what treatment method to choose has become the first big problem for patients.
1. First of all, we should figure out which kind of liver cancer we have.
There are primary liver cancer and metastatic liver cancer.
Primary liver cancer refers to tumors that originate from the liver and develop from the cells of the liver through cancerous changes.
Metastatic liver cancer refers to the tumor originated from other organs and tissues other than the liver, such as liver metastasis caused by stomach cancer.
2. We should figure out how big the tumor is, one or more.
3. Whether other organs are noticed.
Generally speaking, single primary liver cancer with tumor less than 5cm, no distant metastasis and physical condition allows should be treated by surgery as soon as possible. If the patient refuses to undergo surgery, interventional treatment can be considered.
If the lesion is less than 3cm, and the tumor is not close to large blood vessels, gallbladder or diaphragm, radiofrequency or microwave treatment can be considered, which is like burning with a red needle. Or choose subhelium knife cryotherapy, which is like freezing with a needle. Larger tumors are less effective. Think about it, if the tumor is too big, the heat will not penetrate and it will not be easy to freeze it. Smaller tumors are more effective.
For single primary liver cancer, if the tumor is larger than 5cm, it is better to do interventional treatment before surgery, firstly, to insert a tube into the tumor artery, and then to imaging to see if there are small metastases around the tumor, which are sometimes invisible on CT, 2-3mm.
The so-called tumor interventional therapy is to insert a catheter from the femoral artery of the thigh, and then extend a microcatheter into the tumor blood vessels to directly instill drugs into the tumor, and then embolize the tumor blood vessels (so-called embolization means blocking the tumor blood vessels), so that the tumor rots away, which can prolong the patient’s life and treat the tumor. However, because of the low efficiency of tumor treatment drugs (both chemotherapy drugs), it is necessary to review every other month to decide whether to continue the treatment.
For multiple lesions, primary liver cancer, or metastatic liver cancer with rich blood supply, interventional treatment is also preferred.
There are no clear statistics on Chinese medicine for liver cancer treatment. It has some effect on relieving some symptoms or improving immunity, but no obvious anti-tumor effect is seen. Thymidine and others are also for improving the immunity of patients.
Gene therapy, P53, etc., although blown up by some scholars, have very poor effect and are not recommended.
Because liver cancer is not too sensitive to radiation, radiation therapy is not too effective and may affect liver function.
The effect of iodine 125 particles is also not too good for liver cancer because it also emits radiation.
The drug Doxorubicin, the so-called molecular targeting drug, also has general effects, some side effects, expensive, and statistically can improve the survival rate by about 3 months, not super rich is not recommended.
Liver transplantation is not very suitable for liver cancer patients, but can be considered as a last resort and when the economic conditions are very good. Most recurrences occur six months after transplantation.
For metastatic liver cancer with multiple foci and lack of blood supply, the primary foci can be controlled first, such as liver metastasis caused by gastric cancer, and gastric cancer can be treated first, then interventional treatment for liver cancer, but the effect is not good.
Anhydrous alcohol injection is effective for multiple metastatic liver cancers with lack of blood supply, but CT operation is tedious.
For patients with portal vein aneurysm embolism, as long as the tumor does not completely block the portal vein, there is hope for interventional treatment.