Q: In cases involving liver cancer, when is a tumor defined as “inoperable”?
A: The ability for a patient to undergo an operation for liver cancer is based on the technical possibility of removing the diseased part, all the while leaving an adequate amount of the live well perfused by the blood so that it is able to secrete bile. Unfortunately, this is the generic definition and there are a wide range of predicaments in relation to the actual operation. Liver cancer surgery is now a branch of super-surgery for which a team of experts should be guaranteed based on their adequate knowledge in the field. Patients should ask for information relating to the surgery (activity levels, mortality rate, complication rate, type of procedure,etc) which will help them to develop a better physician-patient relationship. Ultrasound allows proper guidance of the surgery which would otherwise not be able to be executed and makes it possible to eliminate one or more tumors that would otherwise be irremovable.
