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Liver Cancer

A diagnosis of liver cancer can leave you with a lot of questions. What should you do? Get a second opinion? What treatment will work best?

The treatment you need depends on many factors. Your liver health and cancer stage play a role. You'll tell us what feels right for you. Together, we'll figure out next steps. We'll make sure you get the care and support you need along the way.

Advanced Diagnostics & Treatments

Imaging scans help us find liver tumors. To get a detailed picture of your liver, we use:

  • X-ray
  • Angiogram
  • Computed tomography (CT) scan
  • Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan
  • Laparoscopy

These scans will help us see if we can do surgery. We can either:

  • Remove part of the liver through surgery
  • Replace your liver with a liver transplant 

Sometimes, we can treat smaller tumors with ablation. Ablation doesn't remove tumors. It destroys them. We can do this by:

  • Freezing the tumors, called cryosurgery
  • Killing tumors with alcohol, or ethanol ablation

We can also kill tumor cells through embolization. In this procedure, we cut off the blood flow to cancer cells. 

We're the first center in Virginia to offer histotripsy for liver cancer. This treatment uses sound waves to destroy liver tumor cells. Read more about histotripsy. 

Medications can't cure cancer in the liver. But they can ease symptoms. They include:

  • Radiation therapy
  • Chemotherapy
  • Sorafenib (Nexavar)
  • Biological therapy

Your Liver Cancer Risk

If you have chronic liver disease and cirrhosis, you're at risk for liver cancer. Get a liver ultrasound every 6 months. 

Several factors increase your risk of liver cancer. These include chronic hepatitis, heavy alcohol use and inherited metabolic disorders. You'll also need monitoring if you have colorectal or neuroendocrine cancer.

Worried about liver cancer? See a doctor if you have:

  • Loss of appetite
  • Unexplained weight loss
  • Fever
  • Fatigue
  • Weakness
  • Abdominal pain and swelling
  • Nausea
  • Dark urine
  • Excessive itchiness of the skin
  • Confusion and increased sleepiness
  • Yellowing of the skin and/or the whites of the eye

 

Liver Cancer Clinical Trials
Healthy Adults and Lung/Liver Cancer Patients are invited to be in a research study.

UVA Health System, Department of Radiology, seeks men and women who are healthy, and those with lung cancer or liver cancer for a research study. The purpose of the study is to improve imaging techniques of soft-tissue in the lungs and abdomen using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). The study involves a physical exam along with the MRI. Study procedures can be completed in one 1-2hour visit. Healthy volunteers must be 18-75 years old; Volunteers with lung or liver cancer must be 21-75 years old. Study-related MRI is provided free of charge.

Testing the combination of the anticancer drug durvalumab with chemotherapy (gemcitabine and cisplatin) at improving outcomes for high-risk liver cancer

The University of Virginia Comprehensive Cancer Center seeks adults ages 18 and over with high-risk resectable intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma for a research study. The purpose of this study is to test the good and bad effects of the drug called durvalumab in combination with the chemotherapy drugs gemcitabine and cisplatin. This drug combination could shrink your cancer, but it could also cause side effects. The study doctors hope to learn if this drug combination will improve surgery outcomes in people with your type of high-risk liver cancer. The combination of gemcitabine, cisplatin, and durvalumab has been approved by the FDA as front line therapy for advanced biliary tract cancers, including intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma. This regimen is approved by the FDA for treatment of your disease when it is advanced and cannot be removed with surgery; it is currently not routinely given before surgery. The study involves receiving the investigational drug, as well as coming in for study visits, which include exams, laboratory tests, and procedures such as having your blood drawn, imaging of your tumor, and talking to the study doctor. You will get the combination of durvalumab, gemcitabine, and cisplatin through a vein in your arm on the first day of each cycle and the chemotherapy drugs, gemcitabine and cisplatin, again on the eighth day of each cycle. Each cycle lasts 21 days. This part of the study has 4 cycles and then you will undergo surgery. After surgery there will be 4 more cycles of the drug combination, for a total of 8 cycles. After you finish your treatment, your doctor will continue to follow your condition in accordance with standard of care, with visits to the office every 3 months for the first two years after surgery, every 6 months for the following five years, and on a yearly basis thereafter. Your doctor will watch you for side effects and for surveillance. The investigational drug, durvalumab, will be provided by the study at no cost to you. All additional procedures required by the study beyond your standard care, including laboratory tests, are provided to you at no charge. Additional information can be found here: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06050252 [email protected]

A Phase 1/2 Dose Escalation Study of CRN09682 With an Expansion Phase in Participants with Progressive Metastatic Somatostatin Receptor Type 2 (SST2)-Expressing Neuroendocrine Neoplasms (NENs) and Other SST2-Expressing Solid Tumors

Headline: A Phase 1/2 Dose Escalation Study of CRN09682 With an Expansion Phase in Participants with Progressive Metastatic Somatostatin Receptor Type 2 (SST2)-Expressing Neuroendocrine Neoplasms (NENs) and Other SST2-Expressing Solid Tumors Study Description: The University of Virginia Comprehensive Cancer Center seeks adults ages 18 and over with Progressive Metastatic Somatostatin Receptor Type 2 (SST2)-Expressing Neuroendocrine Neoplasms (NENs) and Other SST2-Expressing Solid Tumors. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the safety of an investigational drug, CRN09682, when given at different doses. CRN09682 is an investigational drug. Investigational drug means the drug is being studied in clinical studies to determine if it is safe and effective and it has not been approved for use or for sale in the market. The study involves receiving the investigational drug, as well as coming in for study visits, which include exams, laboratory tests, and procedures such as being weighed, having your blood drawn, having imaging done, and talking to the study doctor. If you choose to participate, the study will consist of three main parts: screening, study treatment, and follow-up. The screening period is where the study team will see if you are eligible for the study, and it may require more than 1 visit to complete all screening procedures. After screening, if you are deemed eligible for participation, the next step is the treatment period. You will receive the study drug directly into your vein through intravenous infusion (IV) on the first day of each 21-day treatment cycle. Each IV treatment can range from about 30 minutes to 90 minutes, or more. The number of treatment cycles you will have depends on how you tolerate or respond to the study drug or if you meet other study stopping criteria. The visit at the end of treatment will take place within 7 days after the last dose of study drug, and a safety follow-up visit will take place 30 days after stopping the study drug. If you are no longer getting treatment with the study drug and are still on the study, you will be asked to come into the site for follow-up visits every 3 months to check on your cancer and health status. The study drug, CRN09682, will be provided by the study sponsor at no cost to you. All additional study procedures that are beyond your standard medical care, including laboratory tests, physical examinations, and visits to the study center, are provided to you at no charge. Additional information can be found here: clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT07129252

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