Reconsideration of Radiation Therapy for Liver Carcinoma
Issue: Vol.7, No.3 - July 2008
Article Type: Manuscript
Liver cancer, shorten form of primary hepatic carcinoma (PHC), is mainly divided into three types: hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), cholangiocellular carcinoma and mixed pattern. The incidence is ranked seventh among males and ninth among females in malignancy, and approximately 260,000 patients die of liver cancer worldwide yearly. Liver cancer is the third most frequent malignancy in China and about 110,000 patients die every year, which accounts for 40% of deaths in patients worldwide. In China, which has been a high-risk area for hepatoma, traditionally surgical resection has been the first choice in treatment. However, most of patients with liver cancer also have hepatitis and even hepatic cirrhosis. In nearly eighty percent of patients resection is not feasible because of a variety of reasons. Trans-catheter arterial chemo-embolization (TACE) have been become the first line of treatment for patients who have an unresectable tumor, it has a high short-term efficacy. However, recurrence after TACE treatment is also high and long-term effect of treatment is unsatisfactory. Recently, with rapid development of modern radiotherapy techniques, the outcome has become better than conventional radio-therapies in treating liver cancer. Thus, combined therapy of liver cancer including modern radiotherapy has become popular in recent years and is gaining a lot of attention.
Also In This Issue
- Editorial: What is the Role of Complementary Medicine in Modern Cancer Care?
- Profile: Prof. Stephen Clarke
- 'Feeling Very Left Out': Parents Insights on Siblings of Children Treated for Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia
- Molecular Diagnostics of Bone and Soft Tissue Tumours
- Balancing Self-reliance with the Use of Support Mechanisms Amongst Breast Cancer Patients
- A Clinico-pathological Study of Male Breast Cancer in Yazd, Iran (1992-2007)
- Mutational Analysis of the MMAC1 Tumour Suppressor Gene in Patients with Juvenile Polyposis Syndrome and Cowden Disease
- Assessment of Prognostic Factors for Non-Small-Cell Lung Carcinoma Following Radiotherapy of Cerebral Metastases
- Assessment of Normal Tissue Complications and Second Cancer Risks Following Prostate Cancer Irradiation: A Review
- Erratum