Liver Cancer Support Group

Hello Sofia, Sorry to hear about your dad's diagnosis. My husband, who is 52, also has primary liver cancer. We have been told that systemic chemo does not work for liver cancer, so Mike has been getting chemoembolization treatments where they thread a catheter up through the groin, into the hepatic artery and inject chemo drugs directly into the tumor. This treatment has totally eradicated two of his tumors, one being 7.5 cm, so it's giving us more time together and giving him better quality of life. He's pretty much pain-free and is still able to enjoy life.

There are also less invasive treatments available, and you can research them online.

Good luck and God Bless.

JP

I'm so sorry for your Dad, My dad at 73 last march was diagnosed with Liver Cancer he also had a 8cm tumor, the doctors here tried to resection his liver taking out 75% of it, It didn't work he never woke up and everything failed after that, your dad may be different but if we had to do it all over again and I wish we could we would NOT have had the surgery. Maybe Dad would still be here, I think about him all day every day, He was my hero and lived next door to me. Mom and Myself and my children and our whole family are so sad. Time heals but never never forgets. love him, and be with him as much as you can. Prayers and love to you.

Sorry to hear about your father. I would like to hear about alternative therapy as well. Haven't found much on the net about it. I have had chemo, like peltmj's father. It's really not that bad. It takes about a week to get over the immediate effects of the procedure, but it can significantly reduce or even kill your tumor. Although re-treatment is usually required at some point it can be as long as a year.

Hi there. I am very sorry to hear about your father and wish you luck with whatever you decide to do.

I have a rare liver cancer called Fibrolamellar HCC, and have been fighting it for about a year and a half. In that time, I have had 2 surgeries, including one to remove a 9 cm tumor that had invaded the bile duct. I have no lesions right now, and I am receiving chemotherapy to kill the residual disease. The chemo appears to be working.

I was very fortunate to have very good surgeons. The one I had the second time actually invented a procedure called "portal vein embolization" and has successfully used it to enable him to operate on people that were thought to have inoperable tumors. When he operated on me I had already been turned down for surgery where I live and so I turned to him for a second opinion. I think it's important to understand that sometimes a tumor that is considered inoperable by one surgical team is operable to another. This guy is one of the top liver surgeons out there, and if you like, I would be happy to send you his contact information.

I understand that your parents do not want to pursue surgery, and I think it's important to respect their wishes. The only thing I would suggest is to make sure they understand the implications. From all of my research, surgery is always the first (and usually the best) choice, and usually surgery combined with some kind of systemic therapy (such as chemo) is even better. Chemo is rarely effective at shrinking such a large tumor, which makes peltmj's post all the more inspiring. I am glad to see such a good result from the chemoembolization, but sadly I don't think this result is typical. Still, chemo can buy some time and at least keep the cancer at bay for a while.

I really don't know much about alternative therapies, but I am a bit skeptical. In addition to my chemotherapy, I am looking into an experimental treatment called immunotherapy, where they use your immune system to attack the cancer. Unfortunately, while this is promising, it only seems to be effective when there are small amounts of cancer left over. Like chemo, it is not good at killing large tumors.

Some other treatments you can look at are radiofrequency ablation and cryotherapy.

So, in my humble opinion as a liver cancer fighter and someone that has been very active in his treatment plan, I would like to suggest that your parents really think about this carefully before ruling out surgery (and I suppose chemotherapy as well). There are lots and lots of variables that make a difference in the decision, but surgery and chemo can add some precious time.

I am NOT a doctor. I am just a guy that has lived a lot longer than any of my doctors ever expected. When I relapsed in September I was stage IV (advanced disease) and was offered very little hope. I felt completely lost, overwhelmed and abandoned. I went for a 2nd opinion and a 3rd opinion and eventually found some dedicated doctors that thought they could help. I feel extremely lucky that my health seems to be moving in the right direction and I wish the same for everyone suffering from this terrible disease.

I wish your family the best of luck whatever you do. Try to stay strong and stay positive and celebrate life together for as long as you can.

I am really very sorry to hear about your father and wish you luck with whatever you decide to do.
Good Luck..!!!
_______________
http://www.rmgvvc.com/