What is Stage 4 Liver Cancer

stage4liver said:

Sorry you have to be going
Sorry you have to be going through this. Cancer is staged by how far advanced it is with stage 4 being the worst. Stage four can mean either that it has spread to another part of the body or you can also be stage 4 based on tumor load or size of the tumors. As far as prognosis unfortunately with primary liver cancer - HCC the prognosis typically isnt good. You can find all kinds of dismal stats all over the internet which i've already read and have come to the conclusion that they're world wide stats and I'm my own case and not the same as all the masses grouped together.

I'm 41 years old and stage 4 primary liver cancer (no cirhossis, no hepatitis) diagnosed March 2010. I havent had any health problems in my life other than an occasional cold or flu. I've also been through 3 hospitals in the few months since my diagnosis. Diagnosed in one but they werent qualified to do the resection. Sent to the second local hospital for resection which they did a great job on but told me about a year to live and I was no longer curable. Decided I didnt like that answer and found a group that specializes in HCC at Sloan Kettering in NYC and have been there since. They have been more positive and also havent date stamped me, in their words we dont have a crystal ball to look in so we cant tell you that. I've also found out since there are a lot of great hospitals around the country that specialize in HCC and I would suggest seeking one of them out for your uncle. HCC is an aggressive disease with the average life span (here's the doom and gloom numbers you were looking for) of 4-6months to 2 years from diagnosis for someone stage 4 (those are figures from the internet, I'm not buying into them and neither should you).

Look into alternate therapies in conjunction to the conventional treatment. I've changed a ton of lifestyle habits mainly my eating habits to; fresh fruit, veggies, whole grains, lean meats fish, turkey, chicken and low sugar, low salt, and no or as little as possible processed foods. Prayer, God works in mysterious ways! Its also been suggested to me by one of the hospitals to take Maitake Mushroom extract in liquid form as it helps promote a healthy immune system and also has cancer fighting properties. Attitude also plays a factor so i took a F*@k cancer attitude and took my life back even bought the te-shirt. I found when first diagnosed that the cancer not only was consuming my body but it also started to consume my mind. Everyone needs to break that cycle and take their mind and life back as much as possible!! It really does help. I know I could be dead in the next few months but I also know that I can fight it too and live my life and maybe even beat the odds!

Best wishes and I hope some of the above is helpful.

stage4liver said:

MD Anderson in Houston is
Hi Sandy,

MD Anderson in Houston is the #1 cancer hospital in the country. I've also heard they are very good at late stage cancers. I'm going to Sloan Kettering in NYC which is #1-2 in the country with MD depending on what list you look at. John Hopkins in Maryland I think is #3. I chose Sloan because I found out they have a great group that specializes in HCC - primary liver cancer in many different departments from surgery, interventional radiology, and oncology. My brother lives in CT so I can shoot up there if I need extra recovery time before flying back and/or my wife and daughter stay there if I'm hospitalized. Would be nice to be more local as travel costs add up fast!! Hopefully at some point I can transfer care back to WI.

I havent had the y-90 radioembolization. I've had a resection of the entire left side of my liver and I just has a TACEdeb chemoembolization with doxorubicin

stage4liver said:

There are some tough choices
There are some tough choices you have to make.

If you can find a good group of Drs. that specialize in his primary type of cancer locally, that would probably be the best route. Another option is go to MD for a consult to see what their thoughts are? They may be the same as your local cancer centers. Finances and family are tougher when you choose a place across the country. I've been fairly lucky with help reducing the financial burden. My wife's cousin held a benefit for me that raised about 15k, I had ff points and hotel reward points (NYC isnt cheap for hotels) that I used. Friends have also used their ff point to help with me with flights. I am also lucky that my brother is 2 hours out of Manhattan or a lot of my trips and or hospitalizations I would be going solo. My wife and daughter came twice but financially they cant be there for everything and friends and other family were not able to come whereas when i had my surgery here i had about 10-15visitors a day which can be good and bad haha...Just some things to keep in mind.

I just started reading a book recommended to me from Sloan called AntiCancer by David Servan-Schreiber, MD, PHD. I'm only about 3 chapters into it but a very good read. It was written by a Dr that discovered his own brain cancer during research. He then went on with conventional treatments and also heavilly researched alternate and integrative medicines, diet, mind and other ways to help the body fight the disease in addition to conventional medicine. He beat his brain cancer and has been in remission for years now. This isn't the typical book you find online with crazy diets it's based on research, clinical trials, published medical journals etc. It will also address your concerns of "success rates" and statistics. Don't read into them too much. Everyone is different and everyone responds to treatment differently. To quote a line "statistics are information,not condemnation" for my type of cancer 5 yr survival is I think 5-7%. Pretty grim but I keep telling myself I'm going to be in that group! Only God knows when my time is up.

stage4liver said:

I wrote that on my phone and
I wrote that on my phone and for some reason it left some out....

What i've learned about Drs. - Hospitals is look at the search as an interview process as you're hiring them for the best cancer care you can find.

Once you find your list of hospitals go to their websites as a lot have bios on each Dr. you can do a little pre-screening that way and see their educational background, field of specialization, etc. Ask a ton of questions when you have the initial appointment, even tape record it to play back later as there's always things you forget. Find someone that you get a good feeling about and you think is looking out for your brothers best interest and then trust in them but also keep asking questions. When my docs bring something up to me I scour the internet to see what I can find and then ask questions accordingly.

stage4liver said:

Sorry you have to be going
Sorry you have to be going through this. Cancer is staged by how far advanced it is with stage 4 being the worst. Stage four can mean either that it has spread to another part of the body or you can also be stage 4 based on tumor load or size of the tumors. As far as prognosis unfortunately with primary liver cancer - HCC the prognosis typically isnt good. You can find all kinds of dismal stats all over the internet which i've already read and have come to the conclusion that they're world wide stats and I'm my own case and not the same as all the masses grouped together.

I'm 41 years old and stage 4 primary liver cancer (no cirhossis, no hepatitis) diagnosed March 2010. I havent had any health problems in my life other than an occasional cold or flu. I've also been through 3 hospitals in the few months since my diagnosis. Diagnosed in one but they werent qualified to do the resection. Sent to the second local hospital for resection which they did a great job on but told me about a year to live and I was no longer curable. Decided I didnt like that answer and found a group that specializes in HCC at Sloan Kettering in NYC and have been there since. They have been more positive and also havent date stamped me, in their words we dont have a crystal ball to look in so we cant tell you that. I've also found out since there are a lot of great hospitals around the country that specialize in HCC and I would suggest seeking one of them out for your uncle. HCC is an aggressive disease with the average life span (here's the doom and gloom numbers you were looking for) of 4-6months to 2 years from diagnosis for someone stage 4 (those are figures from the internet, I'm not buying into them and neither should you).

Look into alternate therapies in conjunction to the conventional treatment. I've changed a ton of lifestyle habits mainly my eating habits to; fresh fruit, veggies, whole grains, lean meats fish, turkey, chicken and low sugar, low salt, and no or as little as possible processed foods. Prayer, God works in mysterious ways! Its also been suggested to me by one of the hospitals to take Maitake Mushroom extract in liquid form as it helps promote a healthy immune system and also has cancer fighting properties. Attitude also plays a factor so i took a F*@k cancer attitude and took my life back even bought the te-shirt. I found when first diagnosed that the cancer not only was consuming my body but it also started to consume my mind. Everyone needs to break that cycle and take their mind and life back as much as possible!! It really does help. I know I could be dead in the next few months but I also know that I can fight it too and live my life and maybe even beat the odds!

Best wishes and I hope some of the above is helpful.

my mom had her consultation today. we learned that she has stage 4 rectal and liver cancer. i appreciate reading your post and giving me a different way of looking at this. i will try and switch my brain to think more positive so to help her during this time. its just really hard. but i need to share that your post has really helped me.

thank you

stage4liver said:

Sorry you have to be going
Sorry you have to be going through this. Cancer is staged by how far advanced it is with stage 4 being the worst. Stage four can mean either that it has spread to another part of the body or you can also be stage 4 based on tumor load or size of the tumors. As far as prognosis unfortunately with primary liver cancer - HCC the prognosis typically isnt good. You can find all kinds of dismal stats all over the internet which i've already read and have come to the conclusion that they're world wide stats and I'm my own case and not the same as all the masses grouped together.

I'm 41 years old and stage 4 primary liver cancer (no cirhossis, no hepatitis) diagnosed March 2010. I havent had any health problems in my life other than an occasional cold or flu. I've also been through 3 hospitals in the few months since my diagnosis. Diagnosed in one but they werent qualified to do the resection. Sent to the second local hospital for resection which they did a great job on but told me about a year to live and I was no longer curable. Decided I didnt like that answer and found a group that specializes in HCC at Sloan Kettering in NYC and have been there since. They have been more positive and also havent date stamped me, in their words we dont have a crystal ball to look in so we cant tell you that. I've also found out since there are a lot of great hospitals around the country that specialize in HCC and I would suggest seeking one of them out for your uncle. HCC is an aggressive disease with the average life span (here's the doom and gloom numbers you were looking for) of 4-6months to 2 years from diagnosis for someone stage 4 (those are figures from the internet, I'm not buying into them and neither should you).

Look into alternate therapies in conjunction to the conventional treatment. I've changed a ton of lifestyle habits mainly my eating habits to; fresh fruit, veggies, whole grains, lean meats fish, turkey, chicken and low sugar, low salt, and no or as little as possible processed foods. Prayer, God works in mysterious ways! Its also been suggested to me by one of the hospitals to take Maitake Mushroom extract in liquid form as it helps promote a healthy immune system and also has cancer fighting properties. Attitude also plays a factor so i took a F*@k cancer attitude and took my life back even bought the te-shirt. I found when first diagnosed that the cancer not only was consuming my body but it also started to consume my mind. Everyone needs to break that cycle and take their mind and life back as much as possible!! It really does help. I know I could be dead in the next few months but I also know that I can fight it too and live my life and maybe even beat the odds!

Best wishes and I hope some of the above is helpful.

Just wondering how things are going and have you considered the robotic cyber knife??

stage4liver said:

Sorry you have to be going
Sorry you have to be going through this. Cancer is staged by how far advanced it is with stage 4 being the worst. Stage four can mean either that it has spread to another part of the body or you can also be stage 4 based on tumor load or size of the tumors. As far as prognosis unfortunately with primary liver cancer - HCC the prognosis typically isnt good. You can find all kinds of dismal stats all over the internet which i've already read and have come to the conclusion that they're world wide stats and I'm my own case and not the same as all the masses grouped together.

I'm 41 years old and stage 4 primary liver cancer (no cirhossis, no hepatitis) diagnosed March 2010. I havent had any health problems in my life other than an occasional cold or flu. I've also been through 3 hospitals in the few months since my diagnosis. Diagnosed in one but they werent qualified to do the resection. Sent to the second local hospital for resection which they did a great job on but told me about a year to live and I was no longer curable. Decided I didnt like that answer and found a group that specializes in HCC at Sloan Kettering in NYC and have been there since. They have been more positive and also havent date stamped me, in their words we dont have a crystal ball to look in so we cant tell you that. I've also found out since there are a lot of great hospitals around the country that specialize in HCC and I would suggest seeking one of them out for your uncle. HCC is an aggressive disease with the average life span (here's the doom and gloom numbers you were looking for) of 4-6months to 2 years from diagnosis for someone stage 4 (those are figures from the internet, I'm not buying into them and neither should you).

Look into alternate therapies in conjunction to the conventional treatment. I've changed a ton of lifestyle habits mainly my eating habits to; fresh fruit, veggies, whole grains, lean meats fish, turkey, chicken and low sugar, low salt, and no or as little as possible processed foods. Prayer, God works in mysterious ways! Its also been suggested to me by one of the hospitals to take Maitake Mushroom extract in liquid form as it helps promote a healthy immune system and also has cancer fighting properties. Attitude also plays a factor so i took a F*@k cancer attitude and took my life back even bought the te-shirt. I found when first diagnosed that the cancer not only was consuming my body but it also started to consume my mind. Everyone needs to break that cycle and take their mind and life back as much as possible!! It really does help. I know I could be dead in the next few months but I also know that I can fight it too and live my life and maybe even beat the odds!

Best wishes and I hope some of the above is helpful.

I too am just newly diagnosed with ec that spread to the livrer. Never saw it coming, healthy 6o years old male. I am scheduled to start chemo soon. As you indicated not a whole lot of encouraging news browsing the net. But like you said attitude and trust and God or whomever you trust is the main things. I have not been told any prognosis yet and do not want to know, because what good is that when they are just looking at some stat. How about all the people who surviced and still fighting and surviving. 

I went to a large hosptial with better logistics for my 2nd opinion and i am glad i did. Still doing a few tests, because they are puzzled how come my tests were negative a few months ago, now i have ec about 2 cm that spread to liver with what they are calling it 5 cm metassised thickness.

I am so glad for sites like this because what you need is encouragement, staying together, a healthy mental attitude and faith. All the other stuff i beleive is stat, after all we are human beings not some kind of robot.

A long time ago when i was growing, i had a family member that had gangerene on her feet due to diabetes and was told to be amputated from below the knee to save her life. Because of her believe she told the doctors that God brought her to this world and that is how she wants to leave this earth. She out smarted the doctors and lived a health 30 years after that ordeal and died of a natural death in her late 80's.

Keep the faith going