Have you or anyone you know survived Hepatocellular Carcinoma?

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My brother-in-law was told he has Hepatocellular Carcinoma (liver cancer) he look really bad and I have been reading about it and the odds of him living are terrible. I'm freaking out and am very depressed. Any advice will be helpful. Thanks!
People have survived it, but it is highly dependant on things you have not mentioned. Patients who do well have no portal vein involvement, the cancer can be completely resected with lobectomy and they have good hepatic reserve.  (+ info)

Query about prognosis and treatment for small early hepatocellular carcinoma?

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I vaguely remember early small (say <2 or 3cm) localised hepatocellular carcinoma still has only okay prognosis even if removed early. Something along the line of 50-60% survival at 5 years. Why is that so? It's small and localised. We got rid of it. What's killing the 40% in the next 5 years?

For small hepatocellular carcinoma, which has better long term prognosis? surgical resection or burning it off? What are the figures like?

Thanks.
Generally the 5-year survival rate is 40-45% for small lesions under 5cm. It goes up of 55% for patients who undergo curative resection. Part of the reason for the poor prognosis is due to the fact that only about 10% of the cases have resectable disease at the time of diagnosis. Half have portal or hepatic vein involvement. Also many patients with HCC also have a cirrhotic liver and/or hepatitis B. Patients without any of these factors with small solitary lesions that can be completely resected with a lobectomy have a 5-year survival rate of 85%. If I had a chance of beating it I would not want it burned off. You want to be sure you have clear margins. Also, people who had less than a lobectomy had far worse survival rates.  (+ info)

Who normally performs the ablation of small hepatocellular carcinoma?

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General surgeon?
Hepatologist (internal medicine)?
Interventional radiologist?
this is the job of interventional radiologist
however surgeon can also do it peroperatively but then it is more invasive for the patient  (+ info)

How have people coped with life after diagnosis of fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma?

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RARE CANCER...please help..diagnosed in March of 2007
There are some support groups for people with rare cancer. It helps to connect with others who have the same disease so that you can share experiences and information. There is an online support group you can contact that is specific to your disease:

Deliver a Cure
http://deliveracure.org/

You can also check into the Rare Cancer Alliance to see if anyone there has this disease:

http://www.rare-cancer.org/

Having a rare cancer is difficult because you often feel so alone. There are others out there with rare cancer you just need to find them. Keep looking!

Oh, and as far as coping with a rare cancer . . you do what you need to do. One of the best ways to deal with a rare cancer is to make sure you go for treatment at a designated comprehensive cancer center. You are far more likely to find doctors and others with your type of rare disease at the larger facilities. You can find a list of cancer centers online at the National Cancer Institute:

NCI: Cancer Centers List
http://cancercenters.cancer.gov/cancer_centers/cancer-centers-list.html

Best of luck. (and yes, we are also dealing with a rare cancer).  (+ info)

what alpha fetoprotein value is significant to suggest hepatocellular carcinoma?

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15.7ng/L is considered the cancer marker level but your level should absolutely be under 10. Normal levels are about 7. If your levels are over 10 your doctor will likely want to run the test again and or possibly investigate further at that time.  (+ info)

Nexavar for hepatocellular carcinoma?

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Do you know anyone who had Liver Cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma) and used Nexavar? What was the result? how effective it was?
This is a fairly new drug called Sorafenib and marketed as Nexavar. It is on fast track status for the treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (primary liver cancer). Sorafenib is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor that was approved by the FDA for treatment for GIST and Renal cell carcinoma (Kidney cancer) and has been considered successful. You can look over the Clinical Trial results to see how patients with liver cancer have responded. It its on a fast track status because of the positive results from Stage III Clinical Trials for this disease.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunitinib
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/558023

One of the best ways to check information like this is to join a support group. Many times there will be patients there who have more information about this treatment. You can join the ACOR mailing list and ask patients:

The Liver Cancer Support Group
http://listserv.acor.org/archives/liver-onc.html

Best to you.  (+ info)

how long does a person with hepatocellular carcinoma live?

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Only God knows that. I was told I had a 20% chance of living the rest of the year. I went to a major university hospital. I have bone, abdomen,and breast cancer. I had chemo, radiation, and a bone transplant.
By the way, when I was told I'd probably not live the rest of the year, it was 1998. I'm 55 yrs. old, and I am still functional.  (+ info)

has anyone out there ever had improvement of fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma after chemoembolization?

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i had a huge 17cm tumor removed from my liver in 2005, now it has came back in multiple areas of my liver, transplant and rescection are not options for me, the only option i have been given is chemoembolization. the cancer i have is fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma? i am looking for answers as to does this chemo help or just make what life you have left miserable? i do no twant to be sick from chemo if it doesnt help. right now the cancer is in about 25% of my liver. if you have this cancer or if you know any information about the effects of chemoembolization on this cancer, please help. i am a 24 year old mother of 2 small children ages 2 1/2 and 4. i am willing to do just about anything to be able to stick around for as long as i can for my kids. God bless you all! I appreciate all of you who will take the time to help.
You might ask your doctor about RadioFrequency Ablation (RFA) to see if you are a candidate for this treatment. There is some strict criteria that must be met before the procedure can be done.

Radiofrequency Ablation of Liver Tumors
http://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info.cfm?pg=rfa&bhcp=1

I do know several people with secondary liver tumors who have been treated successfully with RFA. One young man had nine tumors ablated from his liver and stayed only one night in the hospital. Another young lady is currently undergoing the procedure, but also has tumors in her brain, so they were ablated first.

From what I understand the procedure works best on certain sized (small is best) and symetrically shaped tumors. So, you would need to be evaluated . . or be able to talk them into it . . :-)

Best to you.  (+ info)

treating Hepatocellular Carcinoma(liver cancer)?

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my niece is 2 yrs old..she has Hepatocellular Carcinoma(liver cancer)
we are looking desperately for a hospital in abroad which has best facilities to treat this type of cancer.We live in Sri Lanka.
  (+ info)

Looking for people out there with Fibrolamellar Hepatocellular Carcinoma - a rare form of liver cancer?

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contact me
That is a rather rare form of cancer. "Fibrolamellar carcinoma (FLC) has distinctive clinical, histologic, and radiographic features that distinguish it from the relatively more common hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Fibrolamellar carcinoma occurs in a younger population than does HCC, and it is typically not associated with underlying liver disease or elevated serum levels of alpha-fetoprotein tumor markers. Also, fibrolamellar carcinoma may have a slightly better prognosis than HCC."

FLC is treated with surgery, chemotherapy, immunochemotherapy and, occasionally, with liver transplantation.  (+ info)

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