Multi-Modality Approach for Treating Liver Cancer
At the UPMC Liver Cancer Center, our philosophy is to utilize a multi-modality approach for the treatment of liver cancer. This means that we may use more than one form of therapy to treat a liver tumor.
For example, a patient with a large, unresectable liver cancer may initially receive regional therapy to the liver with transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) or internal radiation (yttrium-90). The goal is to achieve a partial response to the regional therapy where the cancer shrinks in size and allows the surgical team to then operate and remove the tumor.
How do my doctors at the UPMC Liver Cancer Center decide which treatment approach is best for me?
For each new patient seen in the UPMC Liver Cancer Center, once the evaluation is complete, the entire group of specialists from the Liver Cancer Center meet at the weekly Liver Tumor Conference to review the liver biopsy and CT scan. This includes the liver surgeons, liver oncologist, liver pathologist, liver radiologist, hepatologist, and liver nurses. They discuss each case in detail and decide the best initial treatment approach for each patient. The patients are then contacted by the liver cancer nurses to arrange for the treatment.