Liver Tumor Program

Doctors at NYU Langone’s Liver Tumor Program provide individualized care and innovative, evidence-based treatment for people who have liver, gallbladder, or bile duct tumors. Our goal is to provide compassionate and comprehensive care that gives you the best possible quality of life.

We treat benign liver tumors; liver cancer and liver metastases, which is cancer that has spread to the liver from other organs such as the colon; bile duct cancer, also known as cholangiocarcinoma; and gallbladder cancer.

Our experienced team of doctors and nurses at NYU Langone’s Perlmutter Cancer Center includes medical oncologists, liver surgeons, radiation oncologists, interventional radiologists, hepatologists, and nurse practitioners who specialize in complex liver diseases and malignancies. Your care team meets weekly at a multidisciplinary liver tumor board to discuss your imaging test results. They work together to prepare a treatment plan personalized to your needs.

Expertise in Liver Tumor Diagnosis and Treatment

Primary liver cancer is the fifth leading cause of cancer deaths among men and the seventh leading cause of cancer deaths among women in the United States, according to the National Cancer Institute. Such cancers often occur in those who have advanced liver disease or cirrhosis, due to viral hepatitis B and C, fatty liver disease, and alcoholic liver disease. People with such cancers require a dedicated, multidisciplinary team for optimal treatment of their cancer and liver disease.

We use contrast-enhanced MRI, which can help identify liver tumors more effectively than other imaging methods, for an accurate diagnosis. The wide range of advanced treatment techniques we use against liver cancer, liver metastases, and bile duct cancer include the following:

• complex liver surgery, which allows the removal of some advanced primary and metastatic liver cancers. This includes removal and reconstruction of major blood vessels to the liver that may be affected by the tumor, often using robotic and laparoscopic techniques that allow for faster recovery and minimize incisions and hospital time.
• liver transplantation, which can offer cure and long-term survival to people with specific kinds of liver tumors
• percutaneous or surgical radiofrequency or microwave ablation, to deliver heat to destroy liver tumor cells.
• portal vein embolization, which is used to help grow parts of the liver before surgery. This is used when the organ’s function after surgery is a concern.
• transarterial radioembolization (TARE), in which tiny radioactive beads loaded with the isotope yttrium-90 are delivered directly to liver tumors to shrink them
• transarterial chemoembolization (TACE), a minimally invasive procedure that delivers medication directly to liver tumors and blocks the blood flow feeding them
• focal liver radiation therapy, which delivers high-dose radiation to shrink tumors while preserving liver function
• chemotherapy, to reduce the size of liver tumors before surgery
• molecular-targeted therapies and immunotherapies
• histotripsy, a nonsurgical procedure that uses high-intensity sound waves to destroy cancer cells

Our experts provide test results and treatment plans to your primary and referring doctors in a timely manner.

Our nurse practitioners and clinical coordinators can help facilitate referrals and coordinate your imaging tests and treatment plans. Social workers, nutritionists, and genetic counselors also offer you additional support. We educate patients and their families to address any concerns.

Through ongoing clinical trials, we study promising new medications, surgical techniques, and other therapies. For patients who need a liver transplant, we provide the latest technological advances at NYU Langone Transplant Institute, one of the Northeast’s premier centers for liver transplant.

Types of Liver Cancer and Liver Tumors We Treat

We provide expert diagnosis and treatment for these types of liver cancer and tumors:

• hepatocellular carcinoma, the most common primary liver malignancy
• bile duct cancers, also known as cholangiocarcinoma, which originate in the bile ducts and commonly require complex surgical procedures for their removal
• gallbladder cancers, which often require liver surgery
• metastatic cancers to the liver
• benign liver tumors, such as adenomas, focal nodular hyperplasia, hemangiomas, or cysts, which can grow and cause issues with the liver

Research

At NYU Langone’s Liver Tumor Program, we drive cutting-edge research and clinical innovation to address liver cancer. Our multidisciplinary team is at the forefront of developing advanced diagnostics, including novel liquid biopsy techniques to better detect cancer and monitor your treatment response. We seamlessly integrate translational research with clinical care to bring new discoveries to our patients,

As part of an NIH-funded consortium, we are working with other academic centers in New York City to develop early detection biomarkers and pioneer advanced imaging-based tools to better understand liver nodules in people with cirrhosis.