Liver cancer is a common form of cancer. It occurs when abnormal cells develop in your liver. There are extensive treatments available from surgery to less invasive choices. The treatments ultimately are used to kill the cancer cells that are present and prevent the cancer from spreading to other parts of the body.
What is Liver Cancer?
In most cases liver cancer begins in another area of the body, such as the colon and spreads to the liver. It is usually difficult to detect liver cancer. If you do have symptoms, you may experience:
• Unexpected weight loss
• Appetite loss
• Abdominal pain
• Abdominal swelling
• Nausea and vomiting
• Enlarged liver
• Jaundice (yellow appearance to skin)
Your risk factors may depend on your age, sex or lifestyle. For example, men are more likely to develop liver cancer than women. Obesity may make you susceptible to liver cancer, as can excessive alcohol consumption.
Alternative Treatments
As with all cancer treatments, the primary goal is to eliminate the cancer completely. If this is not possible, then an alternative is preventing the cancer from spreading. Along with surgery to remove part of the liver or the entire liver, there are other alternative treatments.
Cryoablation is a technique where the cancer cells are frozen. In this procedure, your physician uses ultrasound pictures to place a cryoprobe containing liquid nitrogen directly on the liver tumors. This will destroy the cancer cells. This treatment can be used alone or with surgery and chemotherapy.
In the opposite direction, you can destroy the cancer cells with heat. In this case, an electric current is used to heat and destroy cancer cells. Again the doctor uses an ultrasound machine for guidance and the doctor then inserts needles into your abdomen. When the needles reach the tumor, they are heated by an electric current that destroys the cells. Similarly, you can undergo a laser procedure, in which an optical fiber is inserted into the center of the liver. A laser light is emitted from this fiber, killing the exposed cancer cells. This procedure is called interstitial laser photocoagulation.
Injections into the liver are another common treatment method. You may have alcohol injected directly into the tumor, which causes the cancer cells to dry out and eventually die. You can also have chemotherapy drugs injected directly into the liver. To perform this procedure, first the hepatic artery is blocked. This artery is how the liver cancers receive blood. After the artery is blocked, the drugs are injected between the blockage and the liver, again killing the cancerous cells.
Radiation is an option for most cancers; however, it is usually not useful for liver cancer. A partially healthy liver may receive more damage from radiation.
Alternative Treatment for Advanced Stages of Liver Cancer
With advanced liver cancer, you may seek alternative treatments for pain control. These treatments may also be used during chemotherapy or radiation for relief. These possibilities include:
• Acupressure
• Acupuncture
• Massage
These treatments are options with surgery or in lieu of surgery. The primary goal is to kill off the cancer cells.
Tags: cancer cells, liver cancer, destroy cancer, destroy cancer cells, with surgery, artery blocked