my husband and i were informed by our local physicians 1 week ago that they felt certain that my husband had a pancreatic mass with likely mets to the liver based on a mri of the liver.he had some nausea and vomiting which took us to the emergency dept.the ultrasound of the abdomen revealed 2 liver nodules and normal appearing pancreas.the mri revealed a mass of the head of the pancreas and 2 liver masses.the liver biopsy showed inflammatory liver tissue.i did not feel comfortable with all of this and made an appt.at upmc/pittsburgh,hillman center.the staff and doctor at the hillman center were terrific.however,the surgical oncologist at the hillman center believes that it may be hcc.he also said that there are new clinical trials there for hcc.is anyone familiar with them? my husband is likely going to have to have another liver biopsy done and have it evaluated by the patholigists at upmc.also,there is no pancreatic mass.it was a cyst.this was confirmed by ct scan.his tumor marker is very elevated.i believe the afp is about 3000 which is very suggestive of hcc.i have read alot about dr.david geller on this message board.is he affiliated with the hillman center?thank God my husband has no ascites,no pain and no jaundice at this time.does anyone have any experience with upmc/hillman center vs.johns hopkins?thank-you so much for any advice
carol