How to treat liver cancer

  There are several treatment options for liver cancer, which are generally divided into two categories: radical treatment and palliative treatment. Liver transplantation, partial hepatectomy and hepatocellular carcinoma ablation are the three common radical treatments at present. Transhepatic artery embolization chemotherapy, targeted drug therapy, intrahepatic radioactive particle implantation, external radiation therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma, Chinese medicine and herbal medicine, immunotherapy, etc. are common palliative treatments. The specific treatment for a particular liver cancer patient needs to be considered according to the stage of liver cancer and the patient’s financial status.  The most basic treatment for liver cancer is surgery. Surgical treatment for liver cancer is mainly applied to patients with relatively limited liver cancer, no extensive intrahepatic metastasis, no distant metastasis outside the liver, and the remaining liver function can meet the needs of the body. This treatment method is the most thorough and effective compared to other treatment methods, and has the best effect. Injection of anhydrous alcohol or radiofrequency or microwave ablation at the tumor site through the skin or under laparoscopic guidance of ultrasound or CT imaging is also the treatment method being used for liver cancer. This treatment generally requires that the largest lesion in the liver should not exceed 5 cm (3 cm in foreign countries) and the number of lesions should not exceed 3. The blood supply of primary liver cancer is mainly supplied by the hepatic artery system. For the treatment of primary liver cancer, chemotherapy drugs can also be injected into the hepatic artery and embolization of the hepatic artery to achieve the purpose of reducing the volume of liver cancer and the number of liver cancer cells, and to reduce the metastasis of liver cancer to other organs. This is currently the most common choice for non-surgical treatment of liver cancer.  Currently, the treatment of liver cancer promotes multi-modal comprehensive management. With the advancement of medical science, the 5-year survival rate of liver cancer has been greatly improved from before.