Liver Tumour Ablation in Lucknow

Liver tumour ablation destroys a tumour where it sits, without removing it by surgery. A thin needle or probe is placed into the tumour through the skin. Energy from the tip heats the tumour, and a small margin around it, until the cells die.

There are two common forms. In radiofrequency ablation, an electrical current heats the tissue around the probe. In microwave ablation, microwaves do the heating. Both heat the tumour until it dies. The team chooses between them according to its size and position.

The needle is usually watched on ultrasound as it moves, so the team can see the tip reach the tumour. Other imaging is sometimes used with it, or instead, when a tumour is hard to see on ultrasound.

Ablation is considered for small tumours in the liver, usually few in number. They may be a primary liver cancer, which starts in the liver, often in someone with long-standing liver disease. Or they may be secondary tumours, which have spread to the liver from another organ such as the bowel.

Size, number and position all matter. A tumour close to a large blood vessel, the gallbladder, the bowel or the diaphragm is harder to treat safely. So is a tumour in a liver that is already working poorly.

Other treatments are considered too: surgery to remove part of the liver, a liver transplant, artery-based treatment such as TACE, radiotherapy, drug treatment, or careful watching. Ablation may be used alone or along with these. Which is right depends on the tumour, the liver and the person.

Ablation is often a smaller procedure than an operation, and the aim is to destroy the tumour while leaving the rest of the liver alone. It does not always destroy all of the tumour. Tumours can come back in the treated area or appear elsewhere in the liver, which is why scans are repeated afterwards.

The main risks are these:

• Pain and fever: pain in the upper right abdomen or shoulder, a low fever and tiredness for a few days are common.
• Bleeding: from the liver or the puncture site, which can sometimes need further treatment.
• Infection: including an abscess in the treated area, more likely if there has been bile duct surgery or a stent.
• Injury to nearby organs: the bowel, gallbladder, bile ducts, diaphragm or lung.
• Liver function: in a liver that is already damaged, treatment can make it work worse for a time.
• Anaesthesia: the team doing the procedure explains the anaesthesia or sedation and its risks.

These are general risks. Your own risk depends on your liver, your other conditions and the position of the tumour. No one can promise a result.

The decision belongs to a specialist team, not to a single test. It usually includes a liver specialist or oncologist, a surgeon and an interventional radiologist, who look at the scans and your liver function together.

At our centre the team reviews your referral, scans and reports first. This includes blood tests such as a liver function panel, and the contrast CT or MRI normally used to map liver tumours. The centre does not have a CT or MRI scanner. Your doctor advises where to get these, and we can review the images and reports.

After that review, the team confirms whether the procedure is carried out at the centre or elsewhere, and by whom. In some cases the specialist first asks for a biopsy to confirm what the tumour is.

A specialist team weighs these options for each person. The table is a general guide, not advice for your case.