Liver Cancer Treatment Options

New and Expanding Treatments for Liver Cancer 

At Houston Methodist , our hepatologists, surgeons, oncologists, radiologists and other specialists are pushing the envelope to evolve liver cancer treatments to be more effective and targeted. We offer the highest standard of patient-centered, specialized care for primary and secondary liver cancers, with a goal of curing cancer and extending lives.

Advanced Services

• The latest technological advancements in diagnostic radiology 
• Extensive treatments for benign and malignant tumors in the gallbladder and bile duct, such as cholangiocarcinoma, hepatocellular adenoma and hemangioma
• Chemotherapy, radiation, embolization and ablation:
  • Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) – an image-guided, nonsurgical procedure directly delivering chemotherapy to liver tumors through a catheter. It spares patients from the side effects of traditional chemotherapy delivered throughout the body
  • Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) – uses radiofrequency waves to heat and destroy cancer cells. It can be performed multiple times as needed
  • Yttrium-90 (Y-90) microspheres – a radioactive medication embedded into millions of microscopic glass beads, or microspheres, that are directly delivered to liver tumors
• Surgical treatments: 
  • Liver resection (partial hepatectomy) – removes part of the liver. It typically is reserved for healthy patients who have good liver function and no cirrhosis
  • Whipple (pancreaticoduodenectomy) – a complex surgery that removes a portion of the pancreas and small intestine, the gallbladder, and the bile duct in patients with certain cancers
  • Liver transplant – used to treat some liver cancers, a patient’s liver is removed and replaced with a liver from a deceased donor, or part of a liver from a living donor
• Multiple clinical studies in hepatocellular carcinoma, cholangiocarcinoma and other cancers