How to do Chemotherapy for Liver Cancer

Chemotherapy for liver cancer can be very challenging. In almost all cases, liver cancer is either a metastatic cancer from somewhere else, such as from colon cancer, or it is stage four liver cancer that cannot be resected due to the lack of symptoms. However, with the great advances in cancer treatment, the chances of survival and better quality of living is much higher than just five years ago.

Instructions

• 1

  Consider using the best chemotherapy drugs if you have good health insurance coverage. In particular, Avastin can greatly improve your quality of life and possibly extend your chances of survival by shrinking tumors for later removal, but it is very expensive without insurance. Avastin is generally used in metastatic colon cancer which shows up in the liver.

  Other options for chemotherapy for liver cancer (not metastatic from other locations such as the colon) include:

  - Doxorubicin (Adriamycin)
  - Cisplatin
  - Methotrexate
  - 5FU (fluorouracil)
  - Gemcitabine

  Your oncologist may recommend a combination of the chemo drugs listed above.

• 2

  Decide on your treatment options. Your oncologist may recommend chemotherapy then surgery to remove the shrunken tumors. For example, chemotherapy on liver cancer which originated from metastatic colon cancer could allow a surgeon to later remove the shrunken tumors in the liver and colon.

  Of course, many have the option to do surgery first which should be done if the tumor isn't too large. Unfortunately, many people have tumors in the liver that are too large for liver resection.

• 3

  Decide upon medications needed for side effects. Many chemotherapy for liver cancer does not cause hair to fall out or lots of missed work/school time. However, the most serious side effect of decreased appetite is a big problem which could decrease chances of survival. Cancer patients sometimes eat very little because of lack of appetite, and the vomiting and nausea caused by eating. There are drugs that can help with that.

  Marinol, a legal derivative of pot in pill form, is often used to increase appetite and decrease nausea. It is the best legal medication to solve the appetite problem. The very best, but possibly illegal way, is to use a real pot plant instead of Marinol.

• 4

  Do some light walking everyday and continue to live your life. You should be able to live a normal life during chemotherapy for liver cancer if the cancer does not metastasize again.