Treatment options

 

Our specialist and highly skilled Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary (HPB) surgeons undertake almost 200 liver operations every year.

These include operations for cancer of the liver as well as for secondary cancer, where it has spread to the liver from elsewhere in the body.

They performs a significant number of operations laparoscopically. This is a type of keyhole surgery that allows surgeons to use only small cuts and a camera for procedures inside the abdomen. They have also performed more than 150 cases using our state-of-the-art robototic surgery.

Your surgical team may recommend one of the following procedures:

 

If your liver cancer has been found early and it has not spread, you may be able to have surgery to remove it.  This is called a Liver Resection or Hepatectomy – this is a major operation to remove part of your liver and can include removing the gall bladder. In some cases the bile duct will need to be removed as well and then connected to the bowel. It is possible to remove up to 75% of your liver, as the liver is able to regrow. A liver resection may take four to six hours to complete.

After surgery you will most like go to either the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) or the High Dependency Unit (HDU). This is usually only for a day or so.

The time you need to spend in hospital after surgery will depend on the amount of the liver that our surgeons remove. It can vary from 48 hours for a minor resection to up to 10 days for a complex major procedure.

Find out more about cancer surgery at Royal Surrey.

 

Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS)

Our HPB surgical team have been pioneers in enhanced recovery after surgery and it is embedded in the care of all our patients undergoing liver surgery. This programme of care aims to help you recover quickly and safely. It has led to our patients having amongst the shortest length of hospital stay in the country.

Discover more about enhanced recovery in this patient leaflet.

 

Liver transplant 

If you are suitable for a liver transplant you will be referred to the specialist liver transplant centre at King’s College Hospital in London.

 

Liver embolization

Cancer needs a bloody supply to survive. This treatment works by reducing the blood flow to the liver.

 

Chemoembolisation (TACE)

Chemoembolisation is when chemotherapy drugs are injected into blood vessels to block the blood flow to the cancer cells. You can read more about this procedure on the Macmillan website (opens in new tab). 

 

Image-guided Irreversible Electroporation (IRE) or Nanoknife 

IRE is a treatment that uses electricity to destroy cancer cells. Two or more needles are placed around the tumour using image guidance (ultrasound or CT). The needles produce an electrical current which destroys the tumour without using extreme heat or cold. Most of the surrounding supporting tissue is not affected.

Read more about this treatment in our patient information leaflet.

 

Image guided microwave ablation of a liver tumour

This is a treatment that uses heat from microwave energy to destroy cancer cells. A needle is placed into the liver tumour through the skin using image guidance (ultrasound or CT). The needle produces heat which travels a few centimetres and destroys the tumour. Further information is available inour patient information leaflet.

 

Selective Internal Radiation Therapy (SIRT) 

This works by delivering radiation to the liver via tiny radioactive beads that are injected into your bloodstream in our Radiology Department. Find out more about this treatment and how it is carried out at Royal Surrey.

 

Immunotherapy 
Immunotherapy is a treatment which uses your immune system to fight cancer. It works by stimulating the immune system to recognise and attack cancer cells. Immunotherapy is delivered intravenously (directly into your vein). This treatment will take place in Chilworth Day Unit. 

Learn more about immunotherapy at Royal Surrey Cancer Centre.