Liver Cancers

Cancerous liver tumors that start in the liver (primary tumors) are hepatocellular carcinomas. Hepatocellular carcinoma is the most common form of liver cancer in adults. It is the fastest growing type of cancer in the United States. In many cases, hepatitis C is a risk fact for liver cancer.

Mount Sinai is a leader treating liver cancer in the United States. Our liver cancer specialists are highly experienced in providing expert and compassionate care to liver cancer patients

Types of Liver Cancer

We treat all types of liver cancer. Whether cancer started in another part of the body and spread to the liver (metastatic liver cancer), or it formed in the liver itself (primary liver cancer). Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a primary liver cancer and most often occurs in a damaged or diseased liver. The best outcomes occur when we treat HCC early. Vulnerable to metastatic cancer, the liver functions as the body’s blood filter since it is exposed to cancers that form throughout the body from lungs to the colon. Our goal is to treat the source of the cancer and minimize its effect on the liver. Once cancer has reached the liver, our oncologists work to shrink it and eliminate it through treatment.

Tumors can also form in the bile ducts that carry bile produced by the liver even if there are no other cancers in the body. These cancers, cholangiocarcinoma, can grow large by the time we discover them if you are otherwise healthy. The first most common symptoms is yellowing of the eyes and skin (jaundice) which may occur only once the cancer has spread. At Mount Sinai we offer a unique transplant program for these types of cancers.

Treatments We Offer

Our hepatologists, surgeons, and oncologists collaborate to develop the best possible treatment plan for you. We perform surgeries such as liver resection and liver transplants. We use radiology treatments, chemotherapy, and other forms of medications, as well.

Research Making a Difference

As an extensive health system, our clinicians work collaboratively with our researchers on finding new treatments for liver cancer. The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai is renowned for our research institutes, laboratories, and centers and programs that help us make new treatments available before they are available elsewhere. We offer early access through the groundbreaking research and clinical studies that we conduct. As early as 2007, we were instrumental in developing the first liver cancer treatment, sonafenib, that was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. This drug is extending the life of advanced liver cancer patients, and it may do so for you. With our ongoing clinical trials, Mount Sinai is continuing to develop treatments to meet the challenges of liver cancer.

Also through our School’s Liver Cancer Program, we are reaching populations in our diverse city of New York to conduct screening and provide treatment to underserved communities.

We will advise you about treatments that will produce the best possible outcomes.