Cancer Health Center

Understanding Liver Cancer -- Diagnosis and Treatment

What Are the Treatments for Liver Cancer? continued...

A liver transplant may be an option for those with both liver cancer and cirrhosis. Although this procedure is risky, it offers some chance of long-term survival.

Advanced liver cancer has no standard curative treatment. Chemotherapy and low-dose radiation may control the cancer's spread and ease pain, however these are of modest benefit in this type of cancer. Most patients receive painkilling medication along with drugs to relieve nausea, improve appetite, and reduce abdominal or lower body swelling. The drug sorafenib (Nexavar) is the first drug to significantly improve the overall survival with advanced liver cancer and is considered the drug of choice for such patients.

People with advanced liver cancer may choose to join clinical trials testing new approaches to treatment.