Need Help (urgent)

[Babbie]

I know this is completely off topic..but i need some help/advice urgently. My aunt has recently been diadnosed with liver cancer I don;t remember the type right now but from what i understood was the second worse cancer there is It is already spreading and affecting her pancreas...the doctor doesn;t recommend any treatment for it saying it will only make her body weaker...but there is no way we can tell her something like that...(she doesn;t know the diagnoses yet..) We are totally devasted...if anybody knows of any new treatments or have experience with it or how i can get this type of info..please help

[luvyorkiestoo]

I'm so sorry to hear what your family is going through. I wish I knew of something to help you through this difficult news. I will keep you and your Aunt in my prayers.
God Bless

[luvdorkyyorkies]

Sounds like very advanced cancer. I am so sorry, if your aunt is an older lady, chemo for it is aggressive and can make her deathly sick, lowering her quality of life for the time she has.
You may want to speak to the doctors again asking if they felt she had any chance for survival with chemo or other means. This may make it easier if you find out this is something you have to tell your aunt.
God bless and I wish you peace and wisdom in a time of great turmoil.

[kp&nala]

i don't have any advice but my family was in a similar situation. my papaw was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer (very bad) the doctors told us that he could have part of it removed IF it did not affect the part of his pancreas that produced insulin, it ended up not being that part but my papaw was at an old age and had other health issues as well. after a long discussion we decided to tell him the diagnosis and let him decide what he wanted done (surgery or not) he finally decided to go through with the surgery but never fully recovered and it ultimately took him away from us. i hope i'm not making you sad or impling anything i just wanted to share my story. he just passed away in september and it's still hard for me at times. my advice would be discover all your options good and bad then let you aunt decide but i would make sure you knew of every availble treatment out there.

[Elbow]

Hello,

I'm not sure what exactly the best course of action is for Liver Cancer, however here are some common treatments from the National Cancer Institute:

Surgery

The following types of surgery may be used to treat liver cancer:

Cryosurgery: A treatment that uses an instrument to freeze and destroy abnormal tissue, such as carcinoma in situ (cancer that involves only the cells in which it began and that has not spread to nearby tissues). This type of treatment is also called cryotherapy. The doctor may use ultrasound to guide the instrument.
Partial hepatectomy: Removal of the part of the liver where cancer is found. The part removed may be a wedge of tissue, an entire lobe, or a larger portion of the liver, along with some of the healthy tissue around it. The remaining liver tissue takes over the functions of the liver.
Total hepatectomy and liver transplant: Removal of the entire liver and replacement with a healthy donated liver. A liver transplant may be done when the disease is in the liver only and a donated liver can be found. If the patient has to wait for a donated liver, other treatment is given as needed.
Radiofrequency ablation: The use of a special probe with tiny electrodes that kill cancer cells. Sometimes the probe is inserted directly through the skin and only local anesthesia is needed. In other cases, the probe is inserted through an incision in the abdomen. This is done in the hospital with general anesthesia.

Radiation therapy

Radiation therapy is a cancer treatment that uses high-energy x-rays or other types of radiation to kill cancer cells. Radiation therapy is given in different ways:

External radiation therapy uses a machine outside the body to send radiation toward the cancer.
Internal radiation therapy uses a radioactive substance sealed in needles, seeds, wires, or catheters that are placed directly into or near the cancer.
Drugs called radiosensitizers may be given with the radiation therapy to make the cancer cells more sensitive to radiation therapy.
Radiation may be delivered to the tumor using radiolabeled antibodies. Radioactive substances are attached to antibodies made in the laboratory. These antibodies, which target tumor cells, are injected into the body and the tumor cells are killed by the radioactive substance.
The way the radiation therapy is given depends on the type and stage of the cancer being treated.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is a cancer treatment that uses drugs to stop the growth of cancer cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping the cells from dividing. When chemotherapy is taken by mouth or injected into a vein or muscle, the drugs enter the bloodstream and can reach cancer cells throughout the body (systemic chemotherapy). When chemotherapy is placed directly into the spinal column, an organ, or a body cavity such as the abdomen, the drugs mainly affect cancer cells in those areas (regional chemotherapy).

Regional chemotherapy is usually used to treat liver cancer. A small pump containing anticancer drugs may be placed in the body. The pump puts the drugs directly into the blood vessels that go to the tumor.

Another type of regional chemotherapy is chemoembolization of the hepatic artery. The anticancer drug is injected into the hepatic artery through a catheter (thin tube). The drug is mixed with a substance that blocks the artery, cutting off blood flow to the tumor. Most of the anticancer drug is trapped near the tumor and only a small amount of the drug reaches other parts of the body. The blockage may be temporary or permanent, depending on the substance used to block the artery. The tumor is prevented from getting the oxygen and nutrients it needs to grow. The liver continues to receive blood from the hepatic portal vein, which carries blood from the stomach and intestine.

The way the chemotherapy is given depends on the type and stage of the cancer being treated.

Percutaneous ethanol injection

Percutaneous ethanol injection is a cancer treatment in which a small needle is used to inject ethanol (alcohol) directly into a tumor to kill cancer cells. The procedure may be done once or twice a week. Usually local anesthesia is used, but if the patient has many tumors in the liver, general anesthesia may be needed.

Other types of treatment are being tested in clinical trials. These include the following:

Hyperthermia therapy

Hyperthermia therapy is a type of treatment in which body tissue is exposed to high temperatures to damage and kill cancer cells or to make cancer cells more sensitive to the effects of radiation and certain anticancer drugs. Because some cancer cells are more sensitive to heat than normal cells are, the cancer cells die and the tumor shrinks.

Biologic therapy

Biologic therapy is a treatment that uses the patient’s immune system to fight cancer. Substances made by the body or made in a laboratory are used to boost, direct, or restore the body’s natural defenses against cancer. This type of cancer treatment is also called biotherapy or immunotherapy

The key is time....you need to push the doctors because sometimes they just give up when they don't see the point of doing treatment. My dad has lymphoma cancer and if I hadn't found the most recent treatments and drugs out there for him, he would still be on the basic chemo concoction his oncologist recommended. Don't ever take the doctor's word as the final one. Do your own research.

Check out this site:
http://www.nci.nih.gov/cancertopics/.../Patient/page1

[lily's mom]

Babbie I'm really sorry to hear that news!! I wish I had some super solution or cure, but I don't. I will sure say a prayer for your aunt though.

[ssguzzy828]

I am so very sorry to hear about your aunt, I will keep her in my prayers. I know the cancer institute can provide a lot of information to you. That is where my aunt learned about pancreatic cancer when my uncle was diagnosed. Please know we are all here for you.

[aimee]

Your entire family will be in my thoughts and prayers

[Zoey]

I'm so sorry to hear about your aunt...the news must have been heart-breaking. I do suggest that you talk with your doctors some more. They may be able to explains the options out there and why they don't think it would be feasible for her. It's hard to know what steps to take next without knowing the rest of your aunt's medical history. I do, though, think that you need to update her on the diagnosis. She probably already suspects something, and she will need time, too, to understand her situation and learn acceptance of the future events, whether it is a new-found treatment or not.

[Babbie]

Thanks everybody. They are doing some more exams to find out in what stage the cancer is, she is in brazil so we are thinking that maybe here in US they might have some new treatments that might not be available there.....my uncle will be coming here in a few weeks and with her heath records we will look for any options available...i just pray that there will be one

On another sad note, a girl I know from the brazilian yorkie forum passed away this week, she was such a bright girl, full of hope and life...never ever sounded sad because of her condition...she was dealing with her 2 or 3 cancer..not sure...shw just touched everybody that met her....please pray for her family, i can only imagine how devasted they are, she was trully special, and i know she is now with God!

Please keep her in your prayers...

[orinskye]

i cant really help either...... i am familiar with cancer (more then i would like) but it sounds pretty advanced. If you are in doubt of the doctors recomendations for treatment you could always get a second opinion. I really am sorry i lost my 3 and a half year old neace to luekemia just recently.

My aunt was diasnosed with ovarian cancer (which they said had spread) and that she was only going to live 6 months (with treatment)........... well.......... that was 20 someodd years ago and she decided NOT to take any treatment.... and she hasnt been to the doctor at all in twenty years . We were incredibly firghtened that the cancer had returned because she was having pains/bleeding/ect.... but thank god it was only a gall bladder infection