Liver Metastases (Secondary Liver Cancer)

Liver metastases are deposits of a cancer that started somewhere else, most often the bowel, breast, pancreas, stomach or lung, and spread to the liver through the blood. They are much more common than cancer that begins in the liver.

They are treated according to the original cancer, not as liver cancer. In some situations, above all bowel cancer with a limited number of deposits, removing or destroying them can lead to long-term control. In many other cancers the aim is to control the disease and symptoms with medicines. Which applies to you depends on details that need a specialist team.

Symptome

• Often none, found on a follow-up scan
• Discomfort or pain under the right ribs
• Loss of appetite and weight
• Tiredness
• Yellow skin or eyes and dark urine
• A swollen abdomen
• Itching of the skin

Ursachen und Risikofaktoren

Blood from the intestines, stomach and pancreas drains through the liver first, which is why cancers of the digestive tract seed there so often. Cancer cells that lodge in the liver can lie quiet for a time and then grow, so metastases may be present when the primary cancer is diagnosed or appear years later. The number, size and position of the deposits, whether there is disease elsewhere, and the biology of the primary cancer together decide what can be done.

Wie es diagnostiziert wird

• Contrast CT of chest, abdomen and pelvis: Maps the liver and looks for disease elsewhere.
• Liver MRI with liver-specific contrast: The most sensitive test for counting small deposits before surgery.
• PET-CT: Used selectively to look for disease outside the liver.
• Biopsy: Needed when the primary is unknown or the diagnosis is uncertain. Not always needed when the picture is clear.
• Tumour markers and molecular tests: For example CEA and RAS, BRAF and MSI status in bowel cancer, which guide drug choice.

Behandlungsmöglichkeiten

• Liver resection: Removal of the affected segments when enough healthy liver can be left. Sometimes done in two stages or after the remaining liver has been made to grow by portal vein embolisation.
• Ablation: Microwave or radiofrequency needles destroy small deposits, alone or combined with surgery.
• Systemic therapy: Chemotherapy, targeted drugs, hormone therapy or immunotherapy chosen by the primary cancer. It can shrink deposits enough to make surgery possible.
• Arterial therapies: Chemoembolisation or radioembolisation (SIRT) delivered into the liver artery for liver-dominant disease.
• Stereotactic radiotherapy: Focused radiation for a few deposits that cannot be operated or ablated.
• Palliative and supportive care: Control of pain, itching, fluid and appetite, alongside any of the above.

Wenn es dringend ist

Fever with shivering, rapidly deepening jaundice, vomiting blood, black stools, confusion or severe abdominal pain need urgent assessment in your nearest hospital. Fever during chemotherapy is an emergency in itself.

Reisen nach Türkiye zur Behandlung

A second opinion from a liver surgeon and a multidisciplinary tumour board is one of the more valuable reasons to travel, because whether deposits are judged removable varies between centres. A planned resection, ablation or SIRT can also be done on a visit of 1 to 3 weeks. Chemotherapy given every 2 or 3 weeks for months is better received near home. Send recent CT and MRI images, pathology and molecular reports and your treatment history in advance. Do not stop current treatment while you wait for an answer.

Senden Sie Ihre Berichte, Scans und eine kurze Geschichte und eine Clinic-Y Koordinator Antworten innerhalb von 24 Stunden mit geeigneten Teams und schriftlich, All-inclusive Vorschläge nebeneinander. Die Überprüfung Ihres Falls ist kostenlos.

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