Your First Visit to the
UPMC Liver Cancer Center
Welcome to the UPMC Liver Cancer Center (LCC). No matter who you are or where you are from, we are dedicated to providing you outstanding patient care. We are here to help you and your family through what may be an uncertain and difficult time. If you have received a diagnosis of liver disease or liver cancer, you are in the best place for evaluation and treatment of your disease.
You may have been referred to the LCC by your primary care physician, oncologist, or gastroenterologist. Your doctor will give us some basic information about your medical history and current diagnosis. In turn, you will be contacted by our office to schedule your initial clinic visit, and a letter will be sent confirming your appointment. You also will receive directions to the LCC, information about Pittsburgh, and a list of possible places to stay if you are from out of town.
On your first visit to our center, you will need your insurance information to register at the LCC. The LCC is part of the Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute, which is located on the seventh floor of UPMC Montefiore. You must bring your CT or MRI scans, medical records, (these may have been faxed ahead of time by your doctor) and liver biopsy slides (if you have previously had a biopsy). You will meet your nurse coordinator and your liver surgeon, and you will be given a packet of information to fill out. This information helps us assess your needs and enables us to provide you with the best possible treatment and care. The liver surgeon will have an interview with you to review your medical history, medications, and general condition. He also will perform a physical examination. The surgeon will develop a plan of medical treatment and care for you. You may need to have lab work or further testing performed, such as a precutaneous liver biopsy or radiology testing for liver cancer.
After the testing is completed, the team of liver cancer specialists at the LCC will decide if you are a candidate for surgical resection to remove the tumor. If you are not an initial candidate for surgical resection, then you will be referred to a hepato-oncologist at the LCC who is highly specialized in the treatment of advanced cancers in the liver. The oncologist may use a variety of treatments such as sirspheres, theraspheres, or combinations of chemotherapy injected directly into the liver.
The initial visit at the LCC may take several hours depending on your needs. We do our very best to see our patients as close to their scheduled appointment times as possible. If you have specific concerns or questions about your visit, please let us know.