Liver Cancer?

Question

A freind of mine has just been told she has tumor on her liver. 0 Has any one had any experience with this and what was the outcome?

I am really worried for her, apparently they have found a few more abnormal cells in her pancrease but everything else is ok

Whats is the routine she will be going through from today?

Thanks

the tumor is malignant.

She said she is waiting to start chemo.

are the chances of getting rid of it low? :-(

i dont know how long shes has had the tumor, about 2 years ago she started having stomach pains and feeling sick, the docs kept giving her blood tests which showed nothing and they said she didnt need any more tests, it was probally stress as she was coming off her HRT ( I think)

she finally had enough and went private.

they have tested her body and it all seams ok, just waiting to find out if there is cancer in the pancrease.

When i talk to her she seems fine about it and confident.

i dont know how long shes has had the tumor, about 2 years ago she started having stomach pains and feeling sick, the docs kept giving her blood tests which showed nothing and they said she didnt need any more tests, it was probally stress as she was coming off her HRT ( I think)

she finally had enough and went private.

they have tested her body and it all seams ok, just waiting to find out if there is cancer in the pancrease.

When i talk to her she seems fine about it and confident.

Answer 1

I agree with Ronald S.

However, something to keep at the back of your mind is a an olive oil liver flush. When all other options have been exhausted she might want to consider this. Basically it builds up huge pressure in the liver which then expels the oil quite violently and this can - in a few cases - blast the cancer into hundreds of pieces, which are then expelled from the body.

this is a very radical approach and should only be attempted with proper naturopathic doctor support.there are many websites that talk about this phenonomen.

http://asktom-naturally.com/cleanse.html
there is a button to ask questions.

beware - there are sites pro and very anti this method.

it is always agony being the friend of someone with cancer and feeling helpless. I can understand your questions. Just be a good, consistently supportive friend. She will appreciate it and it will help you to feel as though you are being a comfort, at least.

Should her prognosis not be good, and her health deteriorates you will want to be a practical support. You could consider doing some kind of short massage course (which will help you throughout life) - being able to offer quality, reassuring touch to a friend at this time is a wonderful gift. sometimes just knowing how to massage her hands is enough. If you dont fancy that - dont be afraid to touch - stroking her brow/hand can help her still feel connected to humanity and less scared - it works.

Answer 2

Liver cancer is one of the most difficult to deal with but much depends on how early it has been found and whether it is a primary cancer or has spread from another organ. Primary liver cancer is much less common. Because many of the main organs of the body receive blood from the liver it is easy for cells to spread to other organs. So even if it is a primary cancer, the speed of it being treated is important.

You will find, if you research the web, that there is not one condition called "liver cancer". There are quite a few possibilities each of which have different symptoms, treatment possibilities and prognosis.

From what you have written, I would guess that her condition is what is called cholangiocarcinoma, (probably defined as extra-hepatic). This is when the cancer is in the bile duct and growing outside of the liver. It is common in this condition for it to spread to the pancreas. Again, if it has been caught early enough, it may not have spread elsewhere. I imagine that the tumour is too big to be surgically removed immediately, or the medics need to run a few tests to determine if it is a primary or secondary tumour. That could be the reason she is having chemotherapy. There will be various blood tests, endoscopy, colonoscopy, X-Rays, plus the usual tests run by doctors.

It is very possible for the tumour to be surgically removed (resectioned) and it may be that this will be done by a procedure called the whittle procedure. If this is done successfully then your friend will be in hospital for 10-14 days and then require about 3 months to recover. It is not uncommon for chemotherapy not to be given following surgery.

Long-term, liver cancers are liable to recur, but 5 year survival for this procedure is very good (I think it is over 40%). In any event, your friend will be scanned on a regular basis.

I would warn your friend not to take too much notice of all of the "alternative" treatments and strange diets, unless and until such time that conventionl treatments cannot work.

Best of luck to your friend.

I meant to say that she may not have a biopsy taken since the doctors in the UK only do this as a last resort since. This is because the sample is taken using a large needle and there is a high risk that cancerous cells will be released into the system when the needle is withdrawn from the tumour site.

Answer 3

It is difficult to say without more information. There are benign (non harmful) tumours of the liver, and malignant (cancerous) tumours.

Most malignant tumours found in the liver are secondary. That is they have originated from a different cancer in the body, notably from the gut, lung or breast. That is not to say the tumour could be primary, originating from the liver itself. These tumours have a strong association with Hepatitis infections.

Benign tumours are usually found incidentally when undergoing some form of medical imaging, usually for an unrelated problem. They are usually accompanied by no symptoms, or sometimes bleeding and pain, and can be associated with taking the oral contraceptive. Most of the time they require no treatment.

Your friend will be having blood tests, including a hepatitis infection screen, liver ultrasound imaging, and possibly a liver biopsy, to find out what sort of tumour she has, malignant or benign, primary or secondary. Her treatment and prognosis and further management can only be accurately and justly discussed by the doctors she is seeing. It would be unethical for anybody else to do so.

Answer 4

If she is waiting to start chemotherapy, then either she has already had a liver biopsy from which the immunohistochemistry has shown the likely site of primary cancer, or else they have decided that radiologically it is a met from a pancreatic primary, and they have decided against a liver biopsy so as not to delay her treatment.

In the UK, Gemcitabine is the main chemotherapy drug offered, with a response rate of about 30%. This means roughly a 3rd of patients experience a decrease in disease progression, or occassionally, shrinkage. It is sadly not a curative treatment, and pancreatic cancer is usually very aggressive (and quite hard to get 100% histological diagnosis) so once it has spread to the liver, time left can be short. (Sorry to be so blunt there).

Answer 5

My mother had pancreatic cancer with tumours on the liver, she died within a month of finding out she had it.
The survival rate for this type of cancer is very low (about 2%).
Your friend will most probably be referred to a specialist for a liver biopsy which involves cutting out a piece of the liver to examine the cancer.
After this, she will likely either be referred for chemotherapy or an operation to remover the tumour, however it is not common to do this when the cancer is on both the liver and the pancreas.

Answer 6

I've heard of this (from a very relibale source) herbal tincture called Essiac that's prepared as tea & has been proven effective in treating cancer.

It has been developed by the help of Rene Caisse who worked with Dr C A Brusch (physicina to President Kennedy) & after 10 years work together, Dr Brusch stated Essiac is a cure for cancer.
You can contact Jenny Boys at Optimum Health 01483301144

alternatively you can search Google for other suppliers.

Hope this helps,
with luv

Answer 7

I'm sorry to hear this. Liver is considered one of the worse and since it moved on to the pancrease, her option are limited. Your responsibility is to give moral support. Her Doctor would have given her, her options, and any advise on the internet wouldn't be much use to your friend. I believe chemo and/or radiation thereapy would be in her future. If she choose to go through it or not, the best you could do is to comfort her. It would be a tough few months. She would be anxious from deciding her treatment plan, and anticipation from the treatment. The treatment can be devastating to your friend as well. She might go through a wide range of emotions, which might leave you drained.

Answer 8

I am sure the other have given you the best answers. I do have a Friend who doing research in cancer. She is working on using Turmeric powder for cancer treatment. She said in America there are people who have been given turmeric power in capsules form. You can buy them in Indian shop or any super markets. (a good quality one) make paste by adding little water and swallow it every other day. or mix it with milk and drink it. ( Only people who having gastric problem with cancer should not take it. )
It is also good to take even if you do not have cancer. Go into www.turmaric.com and discover more about the cure.

Answer 9

Two must read books for persons diagnosed with cancer:
Michael Murray's How to Prevent and Treat Cancer with Natural Medicine; and Patrick Quillen's Beating Cancer With Nutrition.
Both are written by medical experts and are a mother lode of good advice and useful info on dealing with cancer and the side effects of chemo and radiation treatments. No snake oil salesmen here! Good luck and God bless!

Answer 10

It depends on the sensitivity of the cancer to chemotherapeutic agents. Carcinoma of the pancreas has a very high mortality.