Each year, about 22,000 Americans receive a diagnosis of liver cancer, reports the American Cancer Society. The most advanced form of the disease, Stage IV liver cancer occurs when the cancerous cells escape the liver and travel to your lymph nodes or other organs.

Function

Because Stage IV liver cancer has progressed to other parts of your body, there is no treatment to cure the disease. The goal of treatment instead is to alleviate pain and improve your quality of life as much as possible.

Types of Treatments

The most common treatments for Stage IV liver cancer include chemotherapy and radiation. Doctors may prescribe the medication sorafenib if your liver is functioning well enough, reports the American Cancer Society.

Features

Chemotherapy for Stage IV liver cancer uses intravenous drugs like doxorubicin or cisplatin to destroy cancer cells and shrink the tumor size, while radiation uses beams of energy focused from outside your body to destroy tumor cells. Rather than destroying cancer cells, the drug sorafenib prevents them from growing, explains RxList.

Time Frame

Doctors typically prescribe one 15-minute chemotherapy session per week for six to eight weeks for the treatment of liver cancer, reports UK Cancer Research. Sorafenib is typically taken twice per day with the length of time that treatment continues varying based upon your response to the drug, reports RxList.

Considerations

Even with treatment, only 2 percent of patients with Stage IV liver cancer survive for five years after diagnosis, reports the American Cancer Society.

Source:

American Cancer Society: Treatment of Liver Cancer by Stage

Cancer Research UK: Chemotherapy for Liver Cancer

RxList: Nexavar (Sorafenib)

More Information:

American Cancer Society: How is Liver Cancer Staged?