![]() Be sure to ask your cancer care team what you can expect. Side effects of surgery : Any type of surgery can have risks and side effects. Talk to the doctor about the kind of surgery planned and what you can expect. Surgery can be done to take out the part of the liver with the tumor or to do a liver transplant. Surgery is the only way to try to cure liver cancer. Your feelings about the treatment and the side effects that come with it.The chance that a type of treatment will cure the cancer or help in some way.The treatment plan that’s best for you will depend on: Many times more than one kind of treatment is used. There are many ways to treat liver cancer, but the main types of treatment are: Based on the stage of the cancer, how long do you think I’ll live?.Would you explain to me what the stage means in my case?.If not, how and when will you find out the stage of the cancer?.Resectable means can be removed by surgery.īe sure to ask about your cancer stage and what it means. A higher number, like stage 4, means the cancer has spread outside the liver.ĭoctors may also group liver cancers more simply, based on whether or not they can be entirely cut out (resected). The lower the number, the less the cancer has spread. Your doctor will want to find out the stage of your cancer to help decide what type of treatment is best for you. It also tells if the cancer has spread to other organs of your body that are close by or far away. The stage describes the growth or spread of the cancer through the liver. If you have liver cancer, the doctor will want to find out how far it has spread. Who will explain the test results to me?.How and when will I get the test results?.Sometimes MRI or CT scans clearly show liver cancer and a biopsy isn’t needed. The choice of which type to use depends on your own case. Liver biopsy: In a biopsy, the doctor takes out a small piece of tissue where the cancer seems to be. Other blood tests can also help find out how well the liver is working. AFP is often very high in people with liver cancer. Lab tests: Blood tests can check a protein called AFP (alpha-fetoprotein). They can help find out if liver cancer has spread. They can also be used to look at blood vessels in and around the liver. MRI scans can help tell if tumors in the liver are cancer. MRI: This scan uses radio waves and strong magnets instead of x-rays to make detailed pictures. It can show the size, shape, and place of any tumors in or near the liver. This test is often the first test used to look at the liver.ĬT or CAT scan: This scan uses x-rays to make detailed pictures of your body. The echoes are made into a picture on a computer screen. It gives off sound waves and picks up the echoes as they bounce off tissues. Ultrasound: For this test, a small wand is moved around on your skin. If signs are pointing to liver cancer, more tests may be done. The doctor will ask you questions about your health and do a physical exam. Some symptoms of liver cancer are unplanned weight loss, don’t feel like eating, feeling full after a small meal, belly pain and swelling, and itchy, yellow skin. Liver cancer often doesn’t cause signs and symptoms until it has grown very large or spread. How does the doctor know I have liver cancer? Would you please write down the kind of cancer you think I might have?.And this cancer is treated like lung cancer. So, cancer that started in the lung and spreads to the liver is called lung cancer with spread to the liver, not liver cancer. Because the cancer has spread from where it started, it’s called a secondary liver cancer. It spread there (metastasized) from somewhere else in the body. Most of the time when cancer is found in the liver it didn’t start there. These cancers start in the cells lining the blood vessels of the liver. It starts in the cells that make up the liver. ![]() The most common type of liver cancer is called hepatocellular carcinoma. Your doctor can tell you more about the type you have. If a cancer starts in the liver, it is called primary liver cancer. There are many types of liver cancer. ![]() Different kinds of liver cancer Primary liver cancer Ask your doctor to use this picture to show you where the cancer is.
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