Multimodality Approach for Treating Liver Cancer

At the UPMC Liver Cancer Center, our treatment philosophy is based on a multimodality approach. This means that we customarily explore more than one form of therapy to treat liver tumors.

For example, a patient with a large, inoperable liver tumor may initially receive regional therapy to the liver with transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) or internal radiation (yttrium-90).

The goal of this regional therapy is to reduce the size of the liver tumor so that surgeons can remove it.

Deciding on a Treatment Approach That's Best for You

Each week, UPMC Liver Cancer Center specialists review many patients' clinical presentations — such as liver biopsies and CT scans — and decide on the most appropriate approach for treatment.  After which, a liver cancer nurse contacts each patient to arrange for treatment.

Clinical programs represented at this weekly conference include:

• Liver surgery
• Liver oncology
• Liver pathology
• Liver radiology
• Hepatology
• Liver nursing