Liver Cancer

When you’re facing a liver cancer diagnosis, you’ll want the best possible care. You’ll find it at Cleveland Clinic London. You’ll receive prompt, personalised services from our expert providers. And we coordinate everything you need — so you can focus on healing and feeling your best.

Our service is home to some of the U.K.’s leading liver specialists (hepatologists) and hepato-pancreato-biliary (HPB) surgeons. We have a depth of experience and use the latest research-based methods. Even if cancer affects multiple areas or has come back after previous treatments, we have the expertise and teamwork to provide the best care.

Highlights of our service include:

• Team approach: Your care will be guided by a large team of consultants from different specialties which meets regularly and reviews every case. We determine the best treatments for your diagnosis and tailor services to your needs. Liver specialists work alongside oncologists, radiologists, interventional radiologists, upper gastrointestinal (GI) surgeons and colorectal surgeons.
• Timely care: The sooner you start treatment, the sooner you’ll feel better. We understand that urgency — so our team evaluates new patients in as little as two business days. Eligible patients may undergo surgery within a few days of their initial consultation. Find out more about liver cancer treatment.
• Broad range of therapies: We typically treat your liver cancer with surgery. But if the cancer is advanced or you are not well enough for an operation, you have other treatment options. We often shrink inoperable tumours with chemotherapy or radiology techniques. Radiologists may also use catheters and real-time imaging to destroy tumours or help the liver produce more healthy tissue.
• Attentive inpatient care: After surgery, your recovery starts in our intensive care unit (ICU). On-site consultants will manage your needs 24/7. And our intensivists have expertise in liver disease, so you receive exceptional, knowledgeable care. You’ll also be under watchful monitoring from specially trained ICU nurses.

We deliver exceptional care for primary cancers that start in the liver, called hepatocellular carcinoma. Our team also treats a high volume of metastatic liver cancer that has spread from other areas of the body, including colorectal, breast and kidney cancers and melanoma.

Types of liver cancer we treat include rare, benign and malignant diseases:

• Adenoma.
• Bile duct cancer (cholangiocarcinoma).
• Hepatocellular carcinoma.

Liver Cancer Treatments

Your treatment starts with a thorough investigation, including numerous tests to confirm the cancer diagnosis and its severity. You may have blood tests and imaging scans, such as CT and MRI. We also evaluate your overall health to determine the most appropriate therapies.

Liver cancer treatment options include:

Minimally invasive surgery

We often perform surgery through small incisions. We use sophisticated technologies, causing less disruption to nearby healthy tissue, typically leading to a smoother recovery. These include:

• Laparoscopic (keyhole) surgery: Your provider will use instruments and a camera attached to a long rod to perform the procedure.
• Robotic surgery: Surgeons use a computer console to control the surgical robot’s every move, providing more precision than a human hand alone.

For complex cases, two HPB consultants may attend your procedure. Having two experienced surgeons present during a complex operation can often lead to a faster procedure. And that could mean less bleeding and a quicker recovery for you.

Colorectal surgeons participate in procedures involving the liver and colon or rectum (colorectal cancer). This approach enables us to remove cancer that has spread to other organs (metastatic cancer) during one procedure.

Anaesthetists specialising in liver operations provide a safe procedure and comfortable experience. During surgery, they maintain appropriate pressure in the liver to minimise bleeding. Afterward, they administer pain medications to relieve discomfort.

Radiology procedures

You may receive these procedures before an operation to improve your eligibility for surgery. Or you may have them after surgery to eliminate trace levels of cancer that remain. In some cases, we use these therapies instead of surgery.

Options include:

• Ablative therapies: We’ll use microwave and radiofrequency ablation which destroy cancer cells.
• Transarterial chemoembolisation (TACE): Your provider injects substances that cut off the tumour’s blood supply.
• Portal vein embolization: We’ll redirect blood to a healthy part of the liver to increase its size.

Additional liver cancer treatments

If you need chemotherapy, immunotherapy or clinical (radiation) oncology, you receive coordinated services through our partnership with The London Clinic. Their consultants attend our team meetings, so they are already familiar with your case. This close communication enables you to receive seamless services without having to manage the details.

Second Opinions and Virtual Consultations

Patients from all over the world look to our consultants for second opinions. We often provide this service through virtual visits, so you don’t have to travel to get the answers you need.

We review previous test results, confirm the diagnosis and provide personalised treatment recommendations. Second opinions are available regardless of whether you choose to receive care at Cleveland Clinic London.

Cancer Care Self-Pay Services

Contact us or call +44 20 3423 7500 for more information about liver cancer services. 

We make it easier to access expert care in the U.K. Read more about payment information, including options for self-pay and private medical insurance. If you are coming to us from another country, learn more about coordination available through Global Patient Services.