"What are the conservative treatment options for advanced liver cancer?"
Treatment for Advanced Liver Cancer
Patients with advanced liver cancer often exhibit distant metastases or severe complications such as portal hypertension and liver decompensation. The primary focus of treatment at this stage is to alleviate symptoms and improve quality of life. Conservative treatments for advanced liver cancer encompass general therapy, pharmacotherapy, and palliative surgical interventions.
1. General Therapy
This includes nutritional support and psychological counseling. Due to tumor consumption and gastrointestinal obstruction, patients in the advanced stage of liver cancer often suffer from appetite loss and weight loss. Nutritional support, either enteral or parenteral, is crucial. Maintaining a positive mindset and avoiding excessive emotional fluctuations are also essential.
2. Pharmacotherapy
For pain relief, patients can take prescribed analgesics such as Morphine Hydrochloride Sustained-Release Tablets. In cases of ascites, diuretics like Furosemide Tablets are prescribed. Targeted therapies like Lenvatinib Mesylate Capsules may also be administered.
3. Palliative Surgical Treatments
For patients with significant ascites, peritoneal puncture and drainage may be performed under medical supervision after thorough assessment. For those with bleeding due to esophageal-gastric variceal rupture, endoscopic ligation or sclerotherapy may be utilized for hemostasis. It is recommended that patients with advanced liver cancer actively cooperate with their doctors in these conservative treatments and undergo regular liver CT or MRI scans to monitor disease progression.