Liver Cancer Treatments

All our complex operations are performed by a specialized team of surgeons, with help from dedicated operating room nurses and technicians.

Transarterial Radioembolization (Y90)

An interventional radiologist injects tiny beads containing radioactive material into a blood vessel that leads to the tumor, working right on the tumor with minimal effect on the healthy tissues around it.

Transarterial Chemoembolization (TACE)

Blood supply to the tumor is cut off after chemotherapy is administered, trapping the medication within the tumor.

Ablative Therapy

Ablative therapy (e.g. microwave ablation and radiofrequency ablation) is an interventional radiology treatment that uses heat or cold to destroy cancer tumors without the need for more invasive surgery.

A liver transplant is a type of surgery where a surgeon replaces a diseased liver with a healthy liver. Patients undergo a very thorough evaluation before being listed for a transplant at our Liver Transplant Center.

If you meet all our criteria, you will be added to a waiting list for a new liver. An organization called “UNOS” keeps track of the list. The sickest patients usually get livers first.

Liver transplants can come from living or deceased donor:

• Deceased Donor: Most livers for transplant come from a deceased donor (people who have just died). An organ procurement organization (OPO) such as New England Donor Services helps to coordinate the transplant.
• Living Donor: We are the only center in the Boston area to offer live donor liver transplants. The benefits of a living donation include:
  • Elective procedure
  • Earlier access to life saving transplant
  • Shortened deceased donor list for other patients

Learn more about our liver transplant center.

SBRT is a type of radiation therapy that uses many beams of energy. The beams are carefully targeted to focus tumors.

At Lahey Clinic, as part of the multidisciplinary liver tumor team, you will meet with a medical oncologist in our cancer center who specializes in treating cancers of the gastrointestinal system.

Your oncologist will walk through the options for HCC with you and select the treatment best suited to the cancer and your other medical conditions. At our infusion centers in Burlington and Peabody, we provide all FDA-approved IV treatments for HCC including targeted agents, immunotherapies and chemotherapies. If a pill is recommended, we have staff who assist with prior authorizations and help ensure it is delivered to you promptly. All patients get a teaching visit with an oncology pharmacist or nurse practitioner to review treatment logistics and side effects. We look forward to meeting you.

Some patients may benefit from a combination of locoregional and systemic therapies. Please read the bullets above for more information on each.

The clinic has dedicated social workers that can meet with you and help set you up with necessary support.

Spiritual and emotion support is also available through the hospital.