Role of Radiation Treatment for Liver Cancer

Technological advancements in radiotherapy make it possible for radiation to be delivered precisely to focal liver tumours while sparing dose to the uninvolved liver and other adjacent normal tissues. High dose radiation can be used to ablate (destroy) small tumours, while lower dose radiation may slow down tumour growth and improve tumour symptoms.

Indications

Eligible patients for the clinical trial of high-dose conformal radiation therapy must have unresectable primary hepatobiliary cancer or liver metastases from a solid cancer (e.g., colorectal cancer, breast cancer) and good liver function (no jaundice or ascites). There must be at least 800 cc of uninvolved liver, with the tumours distributed ‘focally’ so that at least 20% of the uninvolved liver can be spared from radiation. Patients with disease outside the liver are eligible if the largest disease burden is in the liver.

Benefits

The chance of tumour control and overall benefit of radiation in this setting is not well described. Trials measure benefits of radiation for primary and metastatic cancer, including, response rate, local control, survival and quality of life. Such studies are required to measure the benefits and toxicities of radiation in this setting.

How to Make a Referral

Patients with gastrointestinal cancer may be referred to one of the radiation oncologists in the Site Group either through departmental referral process or by contacting one of the physicians directly.

This page was last updated September 1st, 2010 at 7:59am.