Is chemotherapy needed after liver cancer surgery?

Whether chemotherapy is needed after liver cancer surgery depends mainly on the patient's specific condition, including tumor type, surgical resection range, and postoperative pathological results. If there is a high risk of recurrence, such as incomplete tumor resection, lymph node metastasis, or vascular infiltration, chemotherapy may be an important option for postoperative adjuvant therapy.

1) Postoperative pathological evaluation

Postoperative pathological results are the key basis for determining whether chemotherapy is needed. If the surgical resection range is clear and the tumor margins are clean, with no obvious signs of spread, chemotherapy is generally not necessary. However, if it is found that the tumor tissue was not completely removed during surgery, or if the tumor is found to have invaded adjacent tissues, blood vessels or lymphatic systems after surgery, then chemotherapy and other auxiliary methods can help further eliminate potential cancer cells in the body.

2) Is there a risk of recurrence?

Liver cancer has a high recurrence rate, especially when the patient has poor liver function (such as cirrhosis) or chronic inflammation in the remaining liver tissue after surgery. In this case, chemotherapy may be combined with targeted drug therapy or other adjuvant treatments to reduce the chance of recurrence.

3) Individualized treatment plan

The current mainstream chemotherapy methods for liver cancer include intravenous injection of chemotherapy drugs such as oxaliplatin, or targeted therapy drugs such as sorafenib. The specific choice needs to take into account the patient's liver function, chemotherapy tolerance, and postoperative recovery. Some patients may selectively give up chemotherapy due to side effects and use Chinese medicine adjuvant therapy or immunotherapy for consolidation.

Whether chemotherapy is needed after liver cancer surgery needs to be individualized by a professional doctor based on pathological evaluation and risk of recurrence. If you have just undergone surgery, you should have regular follow-up visits and develop the most suitable treatment plan based on the examination results and expert advice.