What are the non-surgical treatments for liver cancer

For liver cancer patients who cannot undergo surgical treatment for various reasons, treatment methods include radiofrequency ablation, microwave ablation, intra-arterial chemoembolization, alcohol injection, cryotherapy, radiotherapy, etc.

Radiofrequency ablation or microwave ablation treatment technology for liver cancer: The principle of the two methods is to use the thermal effect of microwaves or radio frequencies to heat the liver tissue through the oscillation of polar molecules in the tissue, especially water molecules, thereby causing thermal coagulation in the target area, that is, burning the tumor to death, and ultimately achieving a radical cure comparable to liver cancer resection and liver transplantation.

These two treatment methods are suitable for three types of liver cancer patients: first, patients with smaller single liver cancer; second, patients with liver cancer that recurs after surgical resection; and third, patients with liver cancer who have poor liver function reserve and cannot tolerate surgical resection.

Hepatic artery interventional chemoembolization method: through arterial catheterization to reach the hepatic artery, inject embolic agents or anticancer drugs. It is often used for patients with advanced liver cancer who cannot be surgically removed to control the disease and prolong the patient's survival.

For liver cancer patients who are not suitable for hepatic artery intervention and liver cancer patients after certain palliative surgery, combined or sequential chemotherapy can be used, but the effect is not good.

Clinical trial results at home and abroad have shown that sorafenib, a new molecular targeted drug that has emerged in recent years, can delay tumor progression and, to a certain extent, prolong the patient's survival by 2-3 months. However, the drug is accompanied by more serious adverse reactions such as diarrhea, rash, and hypertension.