Liver Cancer Treatment: Chemoembolization
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Chemoembolization for Liver Cancer
Chemoembolization is an innovative method used by the experts at Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) for liver cancer treatment. Chemoembolization targets liver cancer by injecting chemotherapy drugs directly into the blood vessels that feed the tumor. It is used for tumors that began in the liver (liver cancer) or that spread to the liver from another part of the body (metastatic liver cancer).
Chemoembolization combines embolization with chemotherapy. Chemoembolization works by using x-ray guidance to insert a small catheter (thin tube) into your femoral artery through a needle. The radiologist will then continue to thread the catheter up through your aorta (the largest artery, located in your heart) and into the main artery that feeds the liver cancer tumor (the hepatic artery).
Mixed with a microsphere, chemotherapy drugs are then injected directly through the catheter into this artery and into the liver cancer tumor in order to emobolize, or block the flow of blood to the diseased tissue. The catheter is removed when blood flow in the artery stops due to the blockage from the microsphere.
Chemoembolization allows high doses of chemotherapy to be targeted directly to cancerous tumors, without exposing the entire body to the effect of those drugs. It also enables what is usually a temporary cut off of the arterial blood supply to the tumor, by which the tumor is prevented from getting the oxygen and nutrients it needs to grow. The liver continues to receive blood from the hepatic portal vein, which carries blood from the stomach and intestine.
Chemoembolization carries the same risks and side effects of traditional chemotherapy, including the possible damage of normal liver tissue that surrounds the tumor. Most people experience some pain, fever, loss of appetite and fatigue during this type of liver cancer treatment. The overall risk of serious complication as a result of chemoembolization is related to your general underlying health, as well as the overall function of your liver.
Based on the stage, size and location of the tumor, your care team at CTCA will work together with you to determine if chemoembolization is the right liver cancer treatment for you.
