Local Chemotherapy for Liver Metastasis
Localized chemotherapy directs chemotherapy medication into liver tumors, avoiding effects to surrounding healthy organs.
Local chemotherapy options for liver metastasis include:
- Hepatic Arterial Infusion (HAI) Chemotherapy: Unlike traditional chemotherapy, which travels throughout the entire body, this treatment delivers high doses of chemotherapy right into the liver through the hepatic artery (the main source of blood supply for liver tumors). HAI chemotherapy requires that a small pump be implanted under the skin in the lower abdomen. The pump can be refilled with medication over time.
- Transarterial Chemoembolization (TACE): TACE is another form of local chemotherapy. TACE delivers micro beads filled with chemotherapy medication directly into the liver tumors. With the help of imaging guidance, an interventional radiologist makes a small incision and guides a tiny tube (called a catheter) into an artery that supplies blood to the liver. He or she then injects the micro beads, which travel into the small blood vessels that feed the liver tumors and then deliver the chemotherapy. Giving chemotherapy in this way results in higher drug concentrations in the tumors, without affecting nearby healthy tissue.
