October doesn’t just mean it’s time to pull out the Halloween decorations. It’s also an important time to commemorate a specific condition: It’s Liver Cancer Awareness Month.
As a team that specializes in treating liver cancer, we don’t want to miss this opportunity to encourage people to get screened. Just as important, our team at Vascular & Interventional Associates wants people to know that if they’re diagnosed with this type of cancer, they have a number of options for treatment.
If you live in the northern Kentucky and Cincinnati, Ohio, area and you have liver cancer, talk with our team. We offer multiple targeted ways to address any masses of cancerous cells that have developed on your liver.
The National Cancer Institute estimates that more than 40,000 people in the United States will be diagnosed with this condition this year. It’s rarer for this kind of cancer to start in the liver. In many cases, the cancerous cells started developing in another body part but spread to the liver.
If you’ve been diagnosed, you probably know if you need to focus on your liver specifically or if there are other areas that need treatment. In either case, though, we provide specialized options for addressing any cancerous tumors on your liver.
Rather than taking a systemic approach like chemotherapy, which affects your entire body, our team works to target and destroy cancer cells in your liver. We have a number of different treatments we can use to treat any liver tumors. They include:
This treatment option uses electricity to kill the cancerous cells in the tumor. We use an ultrasound to guide us as we insert a needle into the tumor, then send the radiofrequency energy there. That heats the cells to the point that it destroys them.
This treatment works similarly, but instead of using energy to create heat, it uses the power of cold. With this image-guided treatment, we can freeze the tumor in an attempt to destroy the cancerous cells.
One interventional oncology treatment is chemoembolization. Rather than applying chemotherapy to your entire system, this treatment option allows us to direct the chemotherapeutic agents directly into the blood vessels that feed your tumor. This way, the cancer medication goes right where it can be most effective while minimizing your whole-body effects.
With this interventional oncology treatment option, we inject radioactive particles into the blood vessels supplying the tumor. This cuts off the supply the tumor needs, slowing its growth and ideally eradicating it.
The right treatment option for you depends on your tumor, your overall health, and other factors that are specific to you. To learn what our team of liver cancer specialists recommends for you, visit Vascular & Interventional Associates in Crestview Hills, Kentucky.
You can make an appointment by calling our office or by booking your visit online.
