Best Treatment Options and Hospitals for Overcoming Liver Cancer

According to the world’s statistics provided by the World Cancer Research Fund, liver cancer takes fifth place among the most commonly diagnosed cancer types in men. This is mainly connected with the wide spreading of the disease risk factors, including alcohol consumption and obesity.

High incidence of the disease requires the elaboration of the new therapeutic options – more efficient, safer, and more sparing the same time. In addition to atypical liver resections (more individualized surgical interventions), nowadays doctors are able to destroy oncological foci with high-energy radio waves or ethanol. Chemotherapy can be supplemented or substituted by the immunotherapy or targeted therapy.

Certain therapeutic options are already available worldwide, while others are still applied only in the limited number of leading hospitals.

Causative factors for liver cancer

The exact cause of liver cancer development changes (mutations) in the liver cells DNA that make them grow and reproduce unstoppably. The uncontrolled atypical cells eventually form a malignant neoplasm. A number of conditions can affect liver cells in such a manner. They are called risk factors.

The most important risk factors include:

Avoiding risk factors significantly lowers the chance of having liver cancer. Additional protective measures, like being vaccinated against hepatitis B, can also be applied.

How can I know that I have liver cancer?

At the early stages, hepatic cancer does not cause any worrying symptoms. As the disease becomes more advanced, the following signs may arise:

Even having all the above-mentioned symptoms does not mean that you have liver cancer. The precise diagnosis is made only after a number of additional tests and histological verification. First, you should see your general practitioner, who will ask you about the symptoms and perform the physical examination. After that, the laboratory and instrumental diagnostics start:

Once all the tests are done, a doctor has comprehensive information about the tumor size, localization, blood supply, and histological type. This data allows for careful planning of the treatment scheme.

What are the most efficient treatments for liver cancer?

According to the data of the World Cancer Research Fund, over 840,000 new liver cancer cases were diagnosed in 2018. High disease incidence stimulates the search for new options for the treatment of liver cancer. These include a variety of effective techniques, from surgical removing of the tumor to destroying cancer cells with the chemotherapeutic agents. Physicians of best hospitals in this sphere may choose between:

Medical programs in specialized liver cancer centers have few aims. The first one is removing the tumor (preferentially) or preventing its further growth and spreading. The second one is managing the disease symptoms and restoring patients’ life quality. The second goal is achieved due to the comprehensive rehabilitation programs that always follow the treatment in the countries with a high level of the healthcare systems.

What are the best hospitals for liver cancer treatment?

Choosing the appropriate healthcare facility for diagnostics and treatment of liver cancer is extremely important. For instance, reliable histological verification of the tumor type is essential for the treatment planning as cholangiocarcinomas, hepatocellular carcinomas and secondary tumors (metastases) require different medical tactics. In its turn, histological verification is possible only after the biopsy which is technically complicated due to the liver localization and intensive blood supply.

Further, the healthcare facility should be equipped with apparatuses for conventional, minimally invasive and atypical surgeries; different types of ablation and embolization. Surgeons should be qualified enough for performing innovative procedures. The hospital should have access to all types of drugs. Only in this case doctors will not be restricted in their choice and will apply the most efficient techniques for restoring patient’s health.

The list of the best liver cancer hospitals in the world includes:

The list of the best-specialized hospitals is renewed every year, according to the updated information on hospital’s success rates, qualification of the healthcare professionals, updates of the equipment, taking part in the clinical trials and scientific research, etc.

Is it possible for a foreigner to undergo treatment in the world-famous hospital?

As a rule, large international hospitals are ready to admit foreign patients and have special quotas for this. Size of the quota and waiting period typically depends on the hospital level and type of the required medical service (e.g. the waiting list for the chemotherapy will be shorter than the waiting list for minimally invasive robotic surgery).

In addition, international patients need to receive the official invitation for treatment, prepare a full package of the medical and administrative documents, issue visa, take care about flight and accommodation, find an interpreter, etc. In case you do not have any experience in undergoing treatment abroad, it is better to use the help of Booking Health. Booking Health takes care of arranging treatment abroad for patients from 75 countries. The company has an international quality control certificate ISO 9001:2015 in the field of medical tourism.

Booking Health offers help in such important aspects:

To start planning your treatment, please, leave the request on the website of Booking Health. Our patient case manager or medical advisor will contact you the same day to discuss details of the most beneficial medical program.