Primary liver cancer is the fifth most common cancer worldwide and the third most common cause of death from cancer, resulting in more than 600,000 deaths per year. The major risk factors for this primary liver cancer are chronic hepatitis B or hepatitis C virus infection, alcoholic cirrhosis (scarring of the liver), and non-alcoholic stratohepatitis.

There are no specific symptoms of liver cancer, and in fact, the earliest signs are usually subtle and can be mistaken for simple worsening of cirrhosis and liver function. Abdominal pain is uncommon with liver cancer and usually signifies a very large tumor or widespread involvement of the liver. Additionally, unexplained weight loss or unexplained fevers are warning signs of liver cancer in patients with cirrhosis.

Surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy are liver cancer treatment main options. Surgery is likely to be the most successful treatment, particularly for patients with small tumors (smaller than 5 cm).

Two types of surgery are used to treat primary liver cancer : hepatectomy or a liver transplantation. However, if the tumor has spread outside the liver, or if the patient has other serious illnesses, surgery may not be effective.

Early-stage liver cancer is amenable to potentially curative therapies; however, only about 30% of patients who present at most centers have early-stage disease. Most of the patients with liver cancer usually come at an intermediate or advanced stage, which make it particularly difficult to treat, for several reasons.

Liver cancer is resistant to many chemotherapies and to cell-death inducing agents. In 2007, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved sorafenib for the treatment of patients with advanced liver cancer. Unfortunately not all patients respond to sorafenib and the drug itself does not cure the disease and quite costly.

Therefore, Wafik El-Deiry, MD, PhD, Professor of Medicine, Genetics, and Pharmacology, and co-Program Leader of Radiation Biology in the Abramson Cancer Center, and colleagues have tested other targeted agents in combination with sorafenib.

They found that treating liver cancer cells with sorafenib and an antibody or the natural ligand that stimulates programmed cell death via the TRAIL pathway, dramatically increases the rate of cell death.

"Sorafenib by itself causes a little cell death, but not that much," Dr. El-Deiry said. "Now you combine sorafenib and TRAIL, and all of the sudden you get massive cell death. It is a real synergistic interaction. It is very profound killing."

The pharmacy price of sorafenib is approximately $5,400 per month in the United States. Indian firm Cipla Ltd is planning to sell the generic version of sorafenib (Nexavar), name ‘Soranib’, at one tenth of Bayer’s selling price in India pending court case.

Liver Cancer – Alternative Treatment

Liver Cancer Stage IV - info update October 2010

Mother of Ms.MR (initial), 82 - Indonesia (Surabaya)

Back in May 2008, Ms. MR's mother was diagnosed with liver cancer (hepatocarcinoma). It was in an advanced stage and her tumor was large, about 11cmx11cm. Her tumor marker (AFP) was 22.865 ng/ml (normal range is below 10 ng/ml) and CA19-9 tumor marker was 79.51 U/ml. Due to her old age, her children decided that she should not take chemo treatment. Instead, she took Typhonium Plus® (TP), two capsules twice per day since July 2009 as an alternative cancer treatment. She also followed our diet guidelines, drank gobo soup every day and followed some acupuncture sessions. In August 2010, after a general checkup, doctor said that her liver condition was much better. Her level of AST (SGOT) was down to 40 from 100 units per litre. She took TP until finally passed away in July 2011. During two years of taking TP and adopted a healthier life style: she enjoyed better quality of life: good appetite, good sleep, and less pain. TP helped to support her immune system and the good thing was she could enjoy longer time to share with her family.

Keywords: cancer, cancer treatment, liver cancer treatment, liver cancer
Compiled by: CancerHelps.com
Source: http://www.hepatitis.org.uk/s-crina/statistics-f3-main.htm
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe0802241
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080413161027.htm
http://www.cancer.net/patient/Cancer+Types/Liver+Cancer?sectionTitle=Treatment
http://www.medicinenet.com/liver_cancer/page3.htm#toce
http://www.cancer.net/patient/Cancer+Types/Liver+Cancer?sectionTitle=Treatment
http://www.dancewithshadows.com/pillscribe/cipla-to-launch-generic-sorafenib-nexavar-at-one-tenth-of-bayers-price-in-india/