What is Liver Cancer?
The majority of our cancer treatments involve tumors that have moved (metastasized) to, or originated from, the liver. This includes, but is not limited to:
- Colon cancer
- Neuroendocrine tumor
- Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)
- Cholangiocarcinoma
- Pancreatic cancer
- Esophageal cancer
- Uterine carcinoma
- Melanoma
- Ovarian Cancer (the list goes on).
How is Liver Cancer treated?
We treat liver tumors, primarily, with an intervention called “embolization,” which means that we go into the arteries and cut off the blood supply to the tumors, thereby starving them of oxygen and causing them to shrink or disappear.
Embolization is typically done with hundreds of thousands of tiny, near-microscopic particles. For some cancers, we use specialized particles that can add an additional treatment other than just cutting off the blood supply. We can inject radioactive particles that not only starve the tumors, but also radiate them from the inside out. Some particles can emit chemotherapy as well.
The 4 treatment options ECCO offers are:
Y90 Radioembolization
We are currently the only outpatient clinic in Colorado capable of performing the Y90 radioembolization procedure. Embolization is performed to cut off or disrupt the blood supply in order to shrink or kill a tumor.
A Y90 treatment is a form of targeted radiation therapy utilized to treat liver cancer tumors. Microscopic radioactive spheres are injected through a catheter directly into the blood vessels that feed the tumor, simultaneously cutting off the blood supply and radiating the tumor at the same time. Once there, they emit radiation for a period of about a month, killing the tumors from the inside. The name Y90 comes from tiny beads that contain a radioactive substance called Yttrium-90.
Success rates vary widely depending on the type of cancer treated and the type of embolization performed.
Chemoembolization
Embolization is performed to cut off or disrupt the blood supply in order to shrink or kill a tumor.A Chemoembolization treatment is a form of targeted radiation therapy utilized to treat liver cancer tumors. Microscopic spheres that emit chemotherapy are injected through a catheter directly into the blood vessels that feed the tumor, simultaneously cutting off the blood supply while also emitting chemotherapy directly into the tumor.
Success rates vary widely depending on the type of cancer treated and the type of embolization performed.
Bland Embolization
Embolization is performed to cut off or disrupt the blood supply in order to shrink or kill a tumor.A Bland Embolization treatment is a form of targeted therapy utilized to treat liver cancer tumors. Microscopic particles – with no chemotherapy or radioactivity – are injected through a catheter directly into the arteries that feed the tumor in order to starve the tumor that will shrink it or kill it.
Success rates vary widely depending on the type of cancer treated and the type of embolization performed.
Percutaneous Thermal Ablation
Percutaneous Thermal Ablation is a procedure that uses an energy source (heat, cold or chemical) to destroy cancerous tissue in a target organ. “Percutaneous” means “through the skin,” “Thermal” means “energy” and “Ablation” means “to terminate or reroute a faulty pathway,” in this case the blood supply to the cancerous tissue.The three forms of ablations our providers specialize in are:
- Microwave or MWA (Heat)
- Cryo (Cold)
- Radiofrequency or RFA (Radiowaves)
Percutaneous Thermal Ablation involves advancing a special type of needle directly into a tumor within the target organ with the assistance of Ultrasound, CT scan and/or X-ray guidance. The needle is used to deliver an energy source to the tumor in order to destroy it while minimizing damage in the target organ.
This is a minimally-invasive procedure, performed in our comfortable, office-based laboratory, which means that there is no need to take time off work or go to a hospital. Typically, the procedure is done using minimal sedation, however, some are performed with general anesthesia. There is usually no need for recovery time and patients walk out of our office afterwards.
