CancerCompass message board discussion started by Fishing2 on 6/6/2007 http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,12928,0.htm Mon, 13 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT Mon, 13 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://backend.userland.com/rss RSS.NET: http://www.rssdotnet.com/ My dad has end-stage liver cancer with cirrhosis.  He has had 1 treatment of Therasphere which worked great on his right lobe that was 12cm, but since it has spread to the left side.  His billirubin is too high for another dose at this time, and surgery is not an option due to the portal vein thrombus.  Does anyone know of any other treatments that he may qualify for?  I am afraid that he may be too weak for new test drugs such as Nexavar.  He is a performance status 3 (in bed 50% of the time), so I don't know if his body would be able to handle the side effects. Can anyone share some advice or give some doctors names inthe midwest area?  Fishing2 Wed, 06 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMT You can try proton therapy or gama knife, which are similar to radiation therapy but not as intense. My dad had proton therapy 3 months ago, it seems to work very well. Definitely not at painful as chemotherapy. Emily1983 Wed, 06 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMT Thanks for the reply.  What do those treatments include?  I have never heard of them.  I can look them up on the internet, but since you have seen it first hand, I would rather hear it from you.THANKS! Fishing2 Wed, 06 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMT Hi,My dad had this therapy in China ( I am a chinese, I come to the US for graduate study). I am sure you can find proton therapy in the US, cause the machine in china was bought from US. For my dad, he didn't feel anything during the therapy, and it is very short too, only about 30 mins everyday, it lasts about a month.  The only side effect is that he lost some appetite.But overall it is not bad. Since his therapy, he has recovered a lot, gained some weight and has more energy. Keeping his spirit up is absolutely important too.  I found this website very informative. http://www.proton-therapy.org/howit.htm  Bless and good luck!Best,Emily Emily1983 Thu, 07 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMT