Intrahepatic Chemotherapy

I am a duodenal cancer (adenocarcinoma) survivor of 15 months, whose cancer has metastaized to the liver. I was on a Phase I study that didn't shrink the tumors. My options until recently were to go on another Phase I study (which I opted not to do), take one chemo drug by mouth, or do nothing. Now I have a doctor out of state who is willing to do intrahepatic chemotherapy where they put a catheter in your groin area and send the chemo through the hepatic artery directly into the liver.

Has anyone been through this or know of someone who has? I've been doing some research on it, but I'd love to talk with someone who's been there. Thanks!

Bonnie

Sounds like chemoembolization....if so, go for it. My husband had no side effects with this and good results on the tumor. Unfortunately for us, we found it too late. Time is the enemy. Would be glad to chat directly.

Thank you for the reply. I would love to hear more. Thanks!

Bonnie

Hi Bonnie,
My Dad has cholangiocarcinoma with mets to the liver. He currently is in a study at Washington University in St.Louis, Mo. He is receiving Gemcitibine and Carboplatin.He is 2 weeks into treatment. He is not eating and losing weight. I am very interested in the treatment you mentioned. My Dad is 78 years young and a very strong spirit. He was healthy in every other aspect. Can you give me information? His liver mass is 3 cm. No evidence at this time there is anything in the pancreas.

Hate to interject a note of caution. I went through chemoembolization and it actually increased my tumor size and spawned a couple of small tumors. Recognize that it does not work for everyone. As my doctor put it is is worth a try.

I still haven't decided on the treatment. I feel so wonderful right now, and I'm working with an herbalist, I'm juicing, I'm taking a number of supplements, and I'm eating all organic. Who knows if that will help, but my quality of life is so much better than when I was on the chemo before!

However, here's a website that talks about the treatment, and the doctor who said he would do it is Dr. Carr.

http://livercancercenter.upmc.com/Treatments/IntrahepaticChe

It's a long address, so you'll want to make sure it all copies.

Two other options your dad might ask about are the cyberknife, which is a directed radiation, and radio frequency ablation. Unfortunately because of the location (I think) of my biggest tumor, I wasn't a candidate for either of those.