"Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third leading cause of cancer death worldwide primarily because of endemic hepatitis B in Africa and Asia. It is also the most rapidly increasing cause of cancer death in the United States due to increased numbers of patients with chronic hepatitis C, and migration from endemic areas." (1)
Hepatocellular Carcinoma is the primary form of liver cancer, usually as a result of cirrhosis of the liver, either by drinking or hepatitis. The survival rates for Hepatocellular Carcinoma (which I will hereon refer to as HCC) are extraordinarily low. One paper I have found written on the subject was in fact written by one of my father's (many) doctors, Dr Abby Siegel, Medical Director of Hepatobiliary Oncology at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in NYC. A link can be found here:
Treatment and outcomes of treating of hepatocellular carcinoma among Medicare recipients in the United States: A population-based study
If you don't read the paper, what the authors are basically saying is that without transplantation, you will die. The only methods listed as curative are transplantation, and surgical resection.
Surgical resection is rarely an option in HCC patients, due to many factors, such as number of tumors, as well as the fact that it is difficult to go chopping around someone's liver and keep them alive. It carries approximately a 60% 5 year survival rate.
Liver transplantation is, obviously, the removal of a sick liver and replacing it with a new one. While potentially curative in nearly all cases, it is the least likely choice for most people, due to costs, compatibility issues (incompatible histamine, blood types, etc) and most importantly, lack of organs; so remember everyone, sign your donor card! You don't need it once you pass and you could potentially save 6 people (heart, 2x lungs, 2x kidneys, liver, eyes, skin, etc). 15 year survival rate is approximately 60%. Liver transplantation is NOT an option if the cancer has metastasized.
Transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) is a form of chemo therapy where they insert a catheter through an artery in your leg and push it up into your liver to deliver chemotherapy in a much localized manner (father received many rounds of this both pre and post transplant). Aside from surgical resection and transplantation, it is
the main form of treatment for HCC patients. It is NOT curative, and the survival time receiving only this treatment is about 2.5 years on average. It is mostly used to give people more time, or to slow/shrink tumors while waiting for transplantation. To quote the paper:
"Neither ablation nor TACE yielded prolonged survival (3 year survival was less than 10% )." (2)
So, as stated, basically if you get HCC, and don't get yourself a new liver quick, you are pretty much done for. There are however new and innovative surgeries and treatments that were not studied in the paper cryosurgery (however, this is only available to those in which resection is possible to begin with), as well as an innovative new form of radiation therapy, called Therasphere, in which tiny, microscopic, radioactive glass beads are fed into your body via catheter, in a way similar to TACE. These beads (in a nutshell) get lodged in the tumorous areas and are a more specific form of radiation treatment. Normal radiation is usually very difficult in HCC patients, as it carries with it a high risk of causing more issues in the liver.
Not trying to scare people, just trying to throw some information out there. Hopefully this info will give some of you that extra incentive to stay on the bandwagon.
People, also, if you are concerned at all about the state of your liver, or feel pain there, jaundice, etc, PLEASE, GET YOURSELF CHECKED OUT RIGHT AWAY. Often times this disease is not found until it is too late for a transplant, surgery, or TACE to be effective. Liver pain and problems are not something that should be waited out, you should get into the nearest MRI as soon as possible.
I know a great deal about liver cancer (as well as some other cancers and maladies) so if anyone has any questions,
please please please do NOT hesitate to ask. HCC is a terrible disease, deadly in most cases unless a transplant is undergone. Even then, the recipients life span is shortened. Strange to think my father has a 40% chance of being dead within 13 years.
Mods feel free to move this if you feel it would be better served elsewhere (such as the health section, etc). I'll see if I can copy and paste it anywhere, but please feel free to move this where it would be of better use. Looking to help out as many as I can. This is a serious illness.
(1)
Moving targets in hepatocellular carcinoma: Hepatic progenitor cells as novel targets for tyrosine kinase inhibitors
Another paper written by Dr Abby Siegel. The paper actually referenced this quote from yet another source, which I will also give credit to:
El-Serag HB. Hepatocellular carcinoma: recent trends in the United States. Gastroenterology. 2004;127(5 Suppl 1):S27–34. [PubMed]
(2) Reference to the first link, just didn't want to put it again hah.
feel better.
. Not to mention his legs are the first thing to go while with me thats the last thing to go. Unfortunatly my head is the first thing to go 
.