Clinician
Welcome to Liver Central
GLI created Liver Central to serve as a comprehensive online guide for all things related to liver cancer – both primary and secondary liver cancers. The content on this site has been curated to provide valuable resources and links to current and relevant research addressing cancer in the liver.
Among 2.4 million cancer patients, 5.14% of cancer patients presented with synchronous liver metastases in an analysis of SEER data from 2010 to 2015. Unfortunately analysis revealed that the presence of liver metastasis was associated with reduced survival as compared to patients without metastasis. Liver metastases were seen most commonly in patients with cancers of the testis, prostate, breast, and anus, and in those with melanoma. (Horn, et. al)
Treating liver tumors presents a significant problem for clinicians given the location of tumors in the liver, the unique microenvironment and immunology of the liver. Drug delivery into high pressure solid tumors is highly inefficient and leads to poorer health outcomes for patients with liver tumors. Additionally, liver tumors contain an abundance of suppressive cells that can shut down anti-tumor immunity and prevent durable responses to immunotherapy. Therapeutic agents using current methods simply cannot adequately penetrate the tumor.
These factors work together to make a difficult and complex situation even more challenging for providers and ultimately the patients living with primary or secondary liver cancer.
Treatment for a patient with primary liver cancer is complex and dependent upon multiple factors including the health of the liver. A multidisciplinary team brings a range of clinical perspectives and experiences to the development of each treatment plan. Through this unique, collaborative approach, patients receive the benefit of multiple expert opinions from a single meeting. This provides each patient with added peace of mind and helps to ensure an optimal outcome and enhanced quality of life throughout liver cancer treatment and beyond.
The Association of Community Cancer Centers reviewed multidisciplinary care delivery for HCC patient populations and revealed unique protocols and associated challenges within primarily community-based settings.
In the United States, liver cancer is the fifth deadliest cancer in men and the seventh deadliest cancer in women but unfortunately liver cancer incidence is rising. Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) accounts for about 75% of primary liver cancers. HCC begins in liver cells known as hepatocytes and most often occurs in individuals whose liver has been damaged by Hepatitis B or C virus-infection, alcohol consumption, and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. HCC typically occurs in older people and is more common in men.
Treatment tends to be multi-modal when HCC is considered loco-regional, which often includes interventional radiology and surgical interventions. Because of the frequency of liver comorbidities in patients with HCC and the complexity of managing care using multiple modalities, a multidisciplinary approach is critical.