Targeted Therapies for Liver Cancer & Liver Metastases

Targeted drugs destroy cancer cells while avoiding healthy cells. This treatment may be combined with traditional chemotherapy, in which drugs are used to destroy cancer cells throughout the body.

Typically, a targeted drug is prescribed if liver cancer has spread to other organs in the body or metastatic liver cancer that has spread to the liver from other organs. It is also used when surgery isn’t possible right away because tumors are too large or too close to important blood vessels.

Sorafenib and regorafenib are multikinase inhibitors that target and block the proteins that signal liver tumors to grow or form the blood vessels that feed a tumor. Targeted drugs may be prescribed to treat colon cancer that has spread to the liver. This includes bevacizumab, which decreases blood supply to the tumor, and cetuximab, which can slow tumor growth. Nivolumab is a new anti-PD1 inhibitor that helps accelerate the immune system’s response to shrink liver cancer or slow its growth. We have an ongoing clinical trial to evaluate nivolumab and other immunotherapy drugs for treating advanced liver cancer.

Targeted drugs may result in fewer side effects than traditional systemic chemotherapy, in which drugs are used to destroy cancer cells throughout the body. Sometimes, however, targeted drugs are combined with traditional chemotherapy to make it more effective.

Stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) delivers a focused and precise high dose of radiation to tumors while sparing nearby healthy tissue. It is a non-invasive, computer-assisted therapy that is used to treat smaller liver tumors when other ablation therapies are not possible or recommended.

A radiation oncologist with expertise in treating the liver determines whether you are a candidate for SBRT. About a week before the first treatment, planning imaging called CT or MRI simulation is performed to help your doctor create an individualized treatment plan based on the most up-to-date tumor images.

In this therapy, you lie on a table while a robotic arm delivers targeted radiation to the tumor or tumors from different angles. The painless, 60-minute treatments are performed on an outpatient basis 2 to 3 times a week for 2 weeks. Some people experience mild fatigue or nausea, which are treated with medication.