Liver Cancer Diagnosis & Treatment | AMO Oncology Centre

address Room 1311-1312, 13/F, Ocean Center, Harbour City, 5 Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
Liver cancer Treatment
Liver cancer

As a cancer caused by abnormal growth of liver cells, liver cancer is classified into primary liver cancer and metastatic liver cancer. The former originates in the patients' liver and is common in tropics such as coastal areas of China, Hong Kong, Guangxi, Taiwan and Vietnam. The latter is the result of metastasis from tumors in other organs such as large intestine, pancreas, stomach, lung, etc..

Treatment
Surgical excision
This is the best treatment for a full cure. Currently in Hong Kong, the five-year survival rates for patients with stages I and II liver cancer are both 60% after surgery, while the rates for patients with stages III and IV liver cancer are 30% and 10% respectively. If the tumor is small and concentrated, local excision can be performed; if the tumor is relatively large or there are multiple tumors, one lobe of the liver needs to be removed. The side effects include liver failure and pneumonia.
Ablation therapy
Ablation therapy is a minimally invasive treatment that kills tumor by means of thermal energy, freezing, and alcohol injection. The doctor would aim a probe at the tumor and destroy cancer cells with high heat at 60°C or liquefied nitrogen at -170°C , or extract the water out of the cancer cells by injecting high-concentration ethanol. The side effects include liver infection and chest and abdominal bleeding.
Radioembolization
Radioactive isotope yttrium-90 is used to kill the tumor. Internal radiotherapy is often adopted to avoid damaging the surrounding normal cells. Specifically, spherical molecules containing yttrium-90 are delivered to the hepatic artery through a catheter, then the radioactive material in the sphere would aim at and attack the cancer cells. The side effects include fatigue, weakened immunity, nausea and vomiting.
Liver transplant
The necrotic liver is excised and a healthy liver from a donor is transplanted into the body. However, since the percentage of organ donation in Hong Kong is not high, patients often need to wait a long time for a donated liver; moreover, the body may treat the new liver as a foreign matter and reject it.
Reference
  • 大紀元健康, 這6種物質殺死癌細胞!肝癌最新治療一網打盡, http://www.epochtimes.com/b5/17/7/19/n9439695.htm, 2017年7月20日
  • 昔日東方, 免疫治療抗肝癌 勝標靶藥, http://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/news/20150730/00176_100.html, 2015年7月30日
  • 醫藥人, 釔-90樹脂微球選擇性殺滅肝腫瘤, http://wp.3phk.com/news-3-15052017/
  • 香港防癌會, 肝癌, https://www.hkacs.org.hk/ufiles/LiverCancer.pdf
  • 癌症基金會, 肝癌, http://www.cancer-fund.org/upload/booklets/file/Liver-tc-%202017.pdf