UT Southwestern Medical Center is in a league of its
own in North Texas with the region’s only National Cancer Institute-designated
cancer center. At the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center, we offer
patients individualized treatment plans at a specialized center with access to
the latest medications and treatments.
Our team of specialists is the most experienced in North
Texas, and we offer treatments that target primary liver cancer and metastatic
liver cancer in different ways.
Treatment for Primary Liver Cancer
Depending on the stage of the cancer and a patient’s overall
age and health, primary liver cancer treatment options might include:
- Liver
transplantation: Patients with liver cancer are often candidates
for liver transplant. Our liver transplant program believes in
aggressive use of transplant as a curative treatment option for liver
cancer, including selected patients with large tumors. Our program features
an experienced, multidisciplinary team that produces patient outcomes that
surpass national averages.
- Surgery
to remove the tumor: Surgery is an option for patients whose tumors
are limited within the liver and the remainder of the liver is healthy
enough to tolerate an operation. We are the only center in the region to offer minimally
invasive robotic and laparoscopic surgical removal of tumors. This
approach allows people to recover faster and go home sooner after surgery,
with less pain than traditional surgery.
- Locoregional
therapies: For some patients, we can deliver treatment directly to the
cancer cells, such as by administering chemotherapy or radiation therapy
directly to the liver via the arteries. This approach can effectively
treat cancers with fewer side effects than traditional chemotherapy.
- Stereotactic
radiation therapy: Radiation can safely shrink a tumor when surgery
isn’t an option.
- Systemic
targeted therapy: Personalized medications can slow tumor growth when
surgery isn’t an option.
- Immunotherapy:
This type of medication can boost a patient’s own immune system to fight
the cancer. This therapy can effectively treat and shrink tumors of some
patients with liver cancer, even when the cancer has invaded blood vessels
or spread outside the liver.
Treatment of Liver Metastases
Treatment of liver metastases depends on where the primary
cancer originated, the extent of the cancer’s spread to the liver, whether the
cancer has spread to other organs besides the liver, and the patient’s overall
condition.
A combination of therapies is possible, such as:
- Surgery to
remove as much cancer as possible while leaving healthy liver tissue
intact
- Chemotherapy to
reduce the risk of cancer returning or shrink liver metastases before
surgery
- Transarterial
chemoembolization to deliver chemotherapeutic drugs directly into
the artery supplying the liver, using a special catheter
- Radiofrequency
ablation to deliver tumor-eliminating energy through a tiny probe
that enters the skin to access the tumors, guided by advanced imaging
- Stereotactic
radiation to deliver large doses of radiation to the tumor using
image-guidance technology
Liver cancer treatment at UT Southwestern focuses on
eliminating the cancer and giving each patient the best quality of life after
treatment. We offer access to the most innovative procedures, the latest drugs,
and cutting-edge clinical trials to give patients the most options available
anywhere.
Clinical Trials
As an academic medical center, UT Southwestern
participates in clinical
trials to improve treatment for patients with liver cancer.
We’re involved in active trials for patients with localized and advanced
hepatocellular carcinoma or cholangiocarcinoma. Patients should speak with
their doctors about clinical trial options.
