Interventional radiology for Liver cancer treatment (treatment without surgery)
Before we talk about this modern technology, you must first know the nature of the unique blood food of the liver:
- The liver is different from most of the body’s organs in that blood reaches through one source.
- Oxygenated blood reaches the liver through two sources: the hepatic artery and the portal vein.
- Then the blood laden with carbon dioxide exits the liver through the hepatic vein.
Embolization therapy is based on this concept:
- Where the interventional radiologist inserts a precise arterial catheter into the source that delivers blood to the tumor cells and injects a substance to block this source.
- Thus, the cancerous cells that feed from this artery die, while the rest of the liver tissues reach the naturally oxygenated blood through the hepatic portal vein.
This treatment represents a good option for patients who are not suitable for surgery and local excision and with relatively large tumors greater than 5 cm. The patient does not need to stay in the hospital and is discharged on the same day.