ON THIS PAGE: You will learn about the different treatments doctors use for people with liver cancer. Use the menu to see other pages.
This section explains the treatments that are the standard of care for HCC. “Standard of care” means the best treatments known. When making treatment plan decisions, patients are encouraged to consider clinical trials as an option. A clinical trial is a research study that tests a new approach to treatment. Doctors want to learn whether the new treatment is safe, effective, and possibly better than the standard treatment. Clinical trials can test a new drug, a new combination of standard treatments, or new doses of standard drugs or other treatments. Your doctor can help you consider all your treatment options. Learn more about clinical trials in the About Clinical Trials and Latest Research sections of this guide.
How liver cancer is treated
In cancer care, different types of doctors often work together to create a patient’s overall treatment plan that combines different types of treatments. This is called a multidisciplinary team. Cancer care teams include a variety of other health care professionals, such as physician assistants, nurse practitioners, oncology nurses, social workers, pharmacists, counselors, dietitians, and others.
Treatment options and recommendations depend on several factors:
- How much of the liver is affected by the cancer
- Whether the cancer has spread
- The patient’s preferences and overall health
- The damage to the remaining cancer-free area of the liver
When a tumor is found at an early stage and the patient’s liver is working well, treatment is aimed at trying to eliminate the cancer. The care plan may also include treatment for symptoms and side effects, an important part of cancer care. When liver cancer is found at a later stage, or the patient’s liver is not working well, the patient and doctor should talk about the goals of each treatment recommendation. At this point, the goals of treatment may focus on slowing the growth of the cancer and relieving symptoms to improve quality of life.
Take time to learn about all of your treatment options and be sure to ask questions about things that are unclear. Talk with your doctor about the goals of each treatment and what you can expect while receiving the treatment. These types of talks are called “shared decision-making.” Shared decision-making is when you and your doctors work together to choose treatments that fit the goals of your care. Shared decision-making is particularly important for liver cancer because there are different treatment options. Learn more about making treatment decisions.
The various disease-directed treatment options for liver cancer can be grouped according to whether they may cure the cancer or if they will improve survival but will most likely not eliminate the cancer. Descriptions of the most common treatment options, both disease-directed and those aimed at managing side effects and symptoms, are listed below.
