Surgery Surgery may be used to take out the cancer or to replace the liver. Removing the tumor is the only way to cure the cancer. A resection of the liver is the removal of the part of the liver where the cancer is found. A liver transplant is the removal of the entire liver and replacement with a healthy liver donated from someone else. Very few patients with liver cancer are eligible for this procedure.
Cryosurgery is a type of surgery that kills cancer by freezing it.
Although patients are often uncomfortable during the first few days after surgery, this pain can usually be controlled with medicine. The recovery period after an operation varies from patient to patient. It is sometimes used to treat liver cancer, although it has not had a measurable effect on survival rates. Radiation therapy may also cause a decrease in the number of white blood cells that help protect the body against infection. Most of these side effects can be treated or controlled and in most cases they are not permanent.