Liver metastases: An incurable disease????

Generally cancer is believed to be a deadly disease. Once it spread beyond its primary site people loose all their hope.

Is it really true??

Is it really end of road??

Answer is big no particularly in case of liver metastasis.

Medical science has proved that certain cancers like small and large intestinal cancers; neuroendocrine cancers are still very much curable if the spread is limited to liver.

Intestinal cancer spread to liver before surgery

Cancer completely removed after surgery

_{Cancer cells first travel to liver before reaching any other part of the body}

Particularly in case of intestinal cancer it is believed that cancer cells before spreading to any other part of the body first they reach liver so if cancer is removed surgically when it is spread just to liver and not any other part we can give patient a long and healthy life.

Same thing hold true for neuroendocrine cancers.

Not a proven thing but recent studies shows that breast cancers spread to liver if tackled surgically can improve survival in-patient with breast cancer.

Liver regeneration capacity:

Liver is the only organ in the body who has a unique regeneration capacity and its grows on its own if removed. It is proven that only 20% of normal healthy liver is required for normal life. So 80% of liver can be removed without much risk and 80 % of that removed liver grows back in a month or two.

This unique capacity of liver gives surgeon many options to treat liver disease.