Father with Liver Cancer

[Guest guest]

Dear All,

My father (Age: 56 years) is suffering from Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) –

Liver Cancer) with spread of the cancer to portal vein. It was diagnosed on May

24, 2006. I joined this group after the diagnosis.

The details are as follows:

1. The cause for the cancer is Hepatitis C, which my father received

way back in 1982, from blood transfusion when his stomach was operated upon.

2. The primary lesion is in the right lobe of the liver – 3.5 cm in

size. (segment VI and VII with some lesions in segments VIII, IVa and IVb).

3. There is a thrombosis/ spread of the cancer in portal vein.

4. There are metastases between the two lungs – behind sternum.

5. Counts of WBCs and Platelets in the blood had reduced before

starting the chemotherapy – WBC count to 3,200 and Platelets count to about

90,000.

6. Due to the spread of the disease, surgery has been ruled out.

7. Also, due to the spread of the disease and portal vein thrombosis,

specific treatments like TACE (Transcatheter Arterial Chemoembolisation),

Yttrium 90 have been ruled out. These treatments are, as per my knowledge,

effective as well as with lower side effects as compared to chemotherapy.

8. Thus, only option the conventional medicine could offer was general

chemotherapy. According to the doctors, PIAF chemotherapy was a promising

treatment.

9. But, due to low WBC and platelets counts, the doctors advised a

second line of treatment – chemotherapy with mild doses of gemcitabine and

cisplatin. This treatment has much lower side effects.

10. About 1 ½ days after chemotherapy (gemcitabin and cisplatin

chemotherapy), the WBC count has increased to 4,700 and the platelets count

has decreased to 76,000.

11. The only visible side effect is hiccups which stop almost only

when my father is asleep.

12. The chemotherapy will be continued only if the blood counts are

maintained at reasonable levels. In case the treatment is continued, the

response to the treatment will be assessed after about 1.5 months.

13. He has been advised to avoid raw food to keep away the infections

from fruits. This is advised not to take, for fear of infections, natural

food and juices known to be effective on cancer.

General health of my father is good, except for a considerable weight loss

about a month back – from 65 kgs to 57 kgs. There has been no weight loss

after that.

Also, he has a very positive mindset. He did not panic when he came to know

the diagnosis. He is determined to fight his way out of the disease.

As explained above, the current treatment is not promising. We cannot start

Ayurvedic treatment as the doctors have advised not to do so when he is

being treated with chemotherapy, as the presence or absence of conflicts

between the two lines of treatments is not explicitly known. However, the

option of homeopathy is still open.

It would be of great help to us if you can suggest any other treatment /

references of hospitals and doctors from any place in the world whom we can

contact. It will also be great if you can provide details of those who have

successfully survived the disease – HCC – liver cancer.

I am confident that if my father's positive attitude is coupled with good

treatment, he will definitely recover. I seek your help for the same.

Thanks,

Prasad