My sister's father in law was diagnosed with liver cancer a few weeks ago. It's very aggressive. Can you explain to me what he might be going through? Thanks~ He's getting TheraSphere treatment soon, if I should include that. Hi, Sarah. I'm sorry your family is going through this illness.
Parsleys gave you some good information about liver cancer, so I'll give you some basic information about the TheraSphere treatments.
Since your sister's father in law is getting the TheraSphere treatment, I am assuming that the cancer started in his liver, not somewhere else in his body. This is called primary liver cancer. Primary liver cancer is aggressive, as you said, and it is hard to catch early. But the good news is there are new break-through treatments available (like TheraSphere)
The TheraSphere treatment is a promising new treatment for liver cancer. In the treatment, tiny glass beads (called microspheres) delivers radiation directly to the liver. The beads contain a radioactive material that is specially aimed to destroy cancer cells. To deliver the treatment, a doctor will make a small cut in the patient's thigh and put a tube into the part of the artery in the liver that feeds the tumor. Then, the beads will be sent through the tube into the cancer's blood supply. Once they are in the liver, the beads get trapped in the small blood vessels that feed the tumor and radiation gets delivered directly to the tumor. This has many benefits: it does not destroy health cells, like chemotherapy and radiation do, and fewer treatments are needed. Also, this treatment is not toxic like chemotherapy, so the side effects he may experience should not be quite as bad. Some of the side effects of the TheraSphere treatment are feeling tired, a slight fever, nausea, mild abdominal pain, and loss of appetite.
I hope this is the kind of information you were looking for Good luck to you and your family. Cancer of the liver is an advanced form of disease and few patients survive it, even with the best treatment available today in the best cancer centers. Most patients live for less than one year from the time their diagnosis is established. Since survival time is limited and most forms of therapy are not curative, it is important for physicians to discuss the pros and cons of treatment options balanced by preservation of the patient's quality of life.
Common first symptoms are
* Pain
* Feeling sick
* Losing your appetite
* Feeling worn out
* Losing weight
Liver cancer is not necessarily painful. This is because there are no nerve endings in the liver itself. If there is pain, it is because the liver has gotten bigger and stretched its covering. The covering does have nerves. This pain will be in the upper right abdomen, under the ribs on the right hand side. Sometimes people complain of pain in the shoulder. This is because the enlarged liver is pressing on nerves which are connected to nerves in the shoulder.
Other possible symptoms are
* Yellow skin and whites of the eyes
* Itchy skin
* Swollen abdomen
The yellowing is because the bile duct has been blocked by the cancer. Bile is made by the liver from waste products in the blood. If the bile duct is blocked, these waste products then build up in the bloodstream. As they are yellow, they make the skin and eyes yellow. This yellowing is called jaundice. If you have jaundice, your urine may also be very dark coloured.
Itchy skin is caused by the same waste products as the jaundice, but this time they are collecting in the skin. Your doctor may be able to give you tablets to help control the itching. But you can only really get rid of it if the jaundice is treated. In other words, if the bile duct is no longer blocked.
A swollen abdomen is caused by fluid collecting in the abdomen. This is called ascites. There can be quite a lot of swelling. The swelling has a number of different causes. There may be
* Blockage of the blood circulation channels in the liver. So fluid builds up
* The liver may not be making the blood proteins it normally makes. These help to keep fluid in the bloodstream. When there are low levels of protein in the blood, fluid leaks out
* Cancer cells may be irritating the lining of the abdomen which then makes fluid
* The body's drainage system (the lymphatic system) may be blocked by cancer cells
* Very occasionally, the tumour can puncture and cause bleeding into the abdomen. This can cause severe pain and collapse.
If cancer continues to grow inside the liver it may lead to liver failure. Liver failure usually leads to progressive fatigue and loss of appetite. Patients spend more time in bed sleeping and eventually lose weight. They may become yellow (jaundiced) and develop some nausea. These effects usually do not develop until the last two or three weeks of life at which time the patient may slip into a semi-coma. |
