Liver resection (removal) and liver transplant offer the best chance to cure liver cancers. At Penn Medicine, our liver cancer surgeons are among the most experienced in the region. They work closely with our large team of liver cancer specialists to provide the special expertise in liver resection and other surgeries for liver cancer needed to deliver great outcomes.
Our Approach to Surgery for Liver Cancer
At Penn, our surgeons carefully tailor procedures to each person. Factors that influence the type of surgery you have and your surgeon's approach include:
- Type and stage (extent) of the liver cancer
- Health of your liver
- Your overall health
- Your treatment history
- Timing with other treatments, such as chemotherapy and other surgeries
To ensure your surgery is as successful as possible, we take the time to improve your health before your procedure. To do this, you may first receive chemotherapy to shrink the tumor (neoadjuvant chemotherapy).
You may also receive care in our Cancer Appetite and Rehabilitation (CARE) Clinic to lessen your risk factors for surgical complications. The CARE Clinic optimizes your health through personalized care that includes nutrition counseling and physical therapy.
Liver Cancer Surgery: Why Choose Penn Medicine?
Our surgeons specialize in hepatobiliary surgeries, procedures that treat the liver and nearby organs. Together, their experience totals several decades of exceptional liver cancer care. This uncommon expertise leads to the knowledge and skill to treat even the most advanced and rare liver cancers.
Other notable features of our liver cancer surgery program include:
- Outstanding outcomes: Each year, our surgeons perform a high volume of liver surgeries, including more than 75 liver resections. Liver surgery is safer and has better outcomes when performed by experienced surgeons. Meet our team.
- Minimally invasive options: For eligible patients, we offer minimally invasive surgical options, such as laparoscopic liver surgery. Laparoscopic surgery involves tinier incisions and leads to easier and shorter recoveries.
- Advanced options for metastatic cancers: In the U.S., most cancers spread to the liver from other areas of the body, such as the colon. Our patients have access to the most advanced therapies for these secondary liver cancers, including hepatic artery infusion pumps. These pumps deliver concentrated doses of chemotherapy directly to metastatic cancers while minimizing side effects. We are one of the only medical centers in the Philadelphia region using them.
- Expertise in complex cases: Sometimes, you need more than one operation to treat liver cancer. During these multistage surgeries, we can take out part of the liver, let it regrow and then remove more liver. These complicated procedures may involve close collaboration with interventional radiology Our interventional radiologists are skilled in procedures that increase the size and strength of the healthy part of your liver, resulting in safer operations and better liver function.
- Integrated care: Our hepatobiliary surgeons are just one part of a much larger team of gastrointestinal (GI) cancer specialists. The whole team is in constant communication and meets regularly to create personalized, effective treatment plans.
- Liver transplant program: Some liver tumors can't be removed because of their location or the health of the liver. Liver transplant may be an additional treatment option in these cases. Surgeons in our Penn Liver Transplant Program are among the most experienced in the region in transplant for liver cancer. As a result, our patients have some of the best liver transplant outcomes in the country.
- Convenience: You can have your liver cancer surgery at one of three convenient locations across downtown Philadelphia. You can also schedule telemedicine appointments (virtual visits) for your surgery consultation and needed follow-up appointments. Learn about GI telehealth visits, available through MyChart by myPennMedicine.
Types of Surgery for Liver Cancer
Types of liver cancer surgery we offer include:
Staging (Diagnostic) Laparoscopy
During this minimally invasive procedure, surgeons guide a laparoscope (flexible tube with a camera at the tip) through a small incision in the belly button. This advanced diagnostic procedure gives our surgeons a more complete picture of cancer spread. With this information, they can better plan your treatment.
Partial Hepatectomy (Liver Resection)
During a partial hepatectomy, your surgeon takes out part of your liver to completely remove (resect) a tumor. Surgeons commonly perform liver resection to remove cancers that have spread to the liver from other locations, including:
- Metastasized colorectal cancers
- Metastasized neuroendocrine tumors of the small intestine and pancreas
Liver resection is a major operation that involves sophisticated surgical techniques. That's why it's important to choose a skilled and experienced hepatobiliary surgeon.
In our high-volume liver cancer surgery center, the experience of our surgeons leads to better outcomes for our patients. Read more about liver resection preparation and recovery at Penn.
Surgeries Performed with Liver Resection
In some cases, your surgeon may also need to remove other organs close to your liver, such as your gallbladder or bile duct. Surgery for liver cancer may also involve the removal of lymph nodes to test if the cancer has spread (metastatic liver cancer).
Read about our approach to:
Liver Cancer Transplant
Liver transplant is a treatment option for people who have hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). HCC is the most common type of primary liver cancer. Primary liver cancers start in the tissues of the liver.
Some people with HCC can't have a partial hepatectomy. This sometimes happens when the liver is too diseased to handle surgery, like when someone has cirrhosis. In other cases, the tumor is located where surgeons can't safely remove it. Liver transplant offers another potentially curative option.
During a liver cancer transplant, your surgeon removes your entire liver. You then receive part or all of a living or deceased donor's healthy liver.
We are one of only a few centers in the Philadelphia region performing liver transplants. Our patients experience excellent liver transplant outcomes, including liver cancer cure. Read about liver transplantation for liver cancer and other diseases treated with liver transplant.
Liver Ablation
Liver ablation uses energy sources to destroy liver tumors. You may benefit from liver ablation if:
- The tumor is small (less than 1.5 inches in diameter).
- The tumor is not near any major blood vessels, major bile ducts or your diaphragm.
- You can't have a liver resection, such as when you are in poor health.
- You have poor liver function.
You may receive ablation during open surgery or as a minimally invasive procedure done by an interventional radiologist. We offer:
- Microwave ablation (MWA): Uses heat from microwaves to kill liver cancer cells
- Radiofrequency ablation (RFA): Uses heat from high-frequency electrical currents to kill liver cancer cells
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Find a GI Cancer Surgeon
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