How Adult Primary Liver Cancer Is Treated There are treatments for all patients with adult primary liver cancer. Surgery may be used to take out the cancer or to replace the liver. Resection of the liver takes out the part of the liver where the cancer is found. A liver transplant removes the entire liver and replaces it with a healthy liver donated from someone else. Only a very few patients with liver cancer are eligible for this procedure.
Chemotherapy uses drugs to kill cancer cells.
Chemotherapy for liver cancer is usually put into the body by a needle in a vein or artery. This type of chemotherapy is called a systemic treatment because the drug enters the bloodstream, travels through the body, and can kill cancer cells outside the liver. In another type of chemotherapy called regional chemotherapy, a small pump containing drugs is placed in the body. The pump puts drugs directly into the blood vessels that go to the tumor. If your doctor removes all the cancer that can be seen at the time of the operation, you may be given chemotherapy after surgery to kill any remaining cells.