Liver Cancer Care

Though serious, it is possible to cure or manage your liver cancer. 

It can be linked with other illnesses, so our multi-specialty team is prepared to deliver precise diagnoses.

Our approach to liver cancer care

Your liver has over 500 known functions. You’re most likely familiar with its main roles, aiding in digestion and filtering toxins and bacteria from your blood. 

The complexity of this organ demands that our doctors have thorough liver expertise. Hepatobiliary doctors are physicians who specialize in liver disorders (and disorders of the gallbladder, bile ducts and pancreas too). Our doctors’ specialized focus on these organ systems equips us and our oncologists with the deep expertise needed to effectively treat your liver cancer.

But more than that, we approach you and all our patients with a multidisciplinary work and communication style. That means our hepatobiliary doctors, internists, medical oncologists, interventional gastro radiologists, surgeons and other clinical professionals confer regularly. We all meet in our weekly tumor board meeting, looking at your imaging scans and then arriving at a consensus about your cancer treatment.

An example of how we work together

Alcohol abuse or hepatitis B or C can cause cirrhosis, scarring of the liver. Cirrhosis is not cancer, but greatly increases a risk of cancer, and cancer can co-exist alongside cirrhosis. This presents complications that our hepatology department cannot manage as a single team with a single doctor.

Commonly, we would need the intervention of GI, interventional radiology, oncology and diagnosing radiology to diagnose the pathology. So, if you have multiple conditions as a cancer patient, one team handles the complication so you can then undergo effective cancer treatment.

In this example, our hepatobiliary doctors will make the cirrhosis stable. Then interventional radiology and radiation oncology will tailor your cancer treatment.

Why choose UCI Health for liver cancer care?

Innovative techniques are now available for liver cancer treatment — and we’ve got them

Histotripsy is a noninvasive treatment that destroys liver tumors with high-intensity Ultrasound waves. A machine generates the sound waves that break up the tumor without damaging any of your surrounding tissue.

We now offer hepatic arterial infusion therapy, a technique that minimizes side effects that normally occur with systemic chemotherapy. This infusion therapy delivers chemotherapy drugs to the artery that sends blood to your liver, targeting liver tumors directly. We’re one of only two UC system academic medical centers to offer this treatment.

Endohepatology is another minimally invasive endoscopic Ultrasound technique we use to diagnose and treat liver disease. And, aside from laparoscopic and robot-assisted liver surgery, we also offer highly complex open surgery. Which procedure we use depends on the grade and location of your tumor and other factors.

Our multidisciplinary approach is especially vital to treat liver cancer, which can be complex

When liver cancer is secondary, the cancer originates somewhere else in your body and spreads to your liver. Doctors trained in the originating cancer as well as liver cancer specialists collaborate to arrive at the correct treatment.

Another type is primary liver cancer, which starts in the liver. Like many other people, you may have a liver illness that predates your cancer diagnosis.

This could be cirrhosis, Hepatitis B or C, or nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. These illnesses impact what treatment options are best and therefore our different specialists consult in detail. We also take into account the stage of the disease, your age, and your overall health.

You’re directly involved in your own care decisions.

We make strong, evidence-based recommendations, but we don’t dictate care. As an academic hospital, we listen, teach and treat. We take your treatment preferences, lifestyle and support systems into account as much as possible. 

Our physicians are affiliated with the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center

We have earned the distinction of being the only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center based in Orange County.

For you this means automatic access to the best, leading-edge liver cancer techniques as well as innovative clinical trials.