Liver cancer — in medical terms, hepatocellular carcinoma — is a very difficult cancer to treat. It is the fifth most common cause of cancer deaths among American men. Currently, the only way liver cancer is cured is if it’s caught early enough and the tumors can be surgically removed.

Advanced Liver Cancer: Medication to Extend Survival

Since liver cancer is really only curable early on, what can doctors do for advanced cancer? Most often, treatment for advanced cancer involves helping you live comfortably, as pain- and symptom-free as possible. However, with all the research that is going on, doctors now have a new medication in their arsenal that may help some people with advanced liver cancer live longer.

Steven Sorscher, MD, an assistant professor of medical oncology at Washington University School of Medicine, says, “About three years or so ago, a drug called sorafenib [brand name Nexafar], which is a drug that targets certain proteins that the primary liver cancer makes to help sustain its growth, was given to about 600 patients in a large study. Of those patients who got sorafenib, the average person lived about three months longer than those who didn’t get sorafenib.” He adds, “In this situation, when someone with primary liver cancer only lives about seven or eight months, a three-month average survival difference represents an important advance.”

Sorafenib isn’t a new drug. It had already been used for a few years for kidney (renal) cancer when researchers began exploring its use in advanced liver cancer.

Liver Cancer: Does Sorafenib Have Any Disadvantages?

As with many medical treatments, there are some disadvantages to using sorafenib to treat advanced liver cancer. Sorafenib’s side effects are manageable, according to a recent study. But the patients who tried sorafenib had fairly healthy livers, with the exception of the liver cancer. The researchers wondered if there would be limited side effects in people whose livers weren’t as healthy. Since liver disease increases your risk of developing liver cancer, a large number of people with liver cancer don’t have healthy livers.

Some potential side effects of sorafenib include:

  • Nausea and vomiting
  • Diarrhea
  • Loss of appetite
  • Generalized weakness
  • Sores in your mouth
  • Red rash and/or itching
  • Hair thinning or loss
  • Tingling, numbness in hands and/or feet

Another issue that researchers are questioning and working on is the quality of life for people taking sorafenib. Right now, the researchers know that sorafenib can extend life by a few months if you have advanced liver cancer, but not much is known about the quality of life.

Liver Cancer: Why Patients Choose Sorafenib

There are several reasons why a person with advanced liver cancer would choose to take sorafenib, despite the side effects. Because the average life span after diagnosis may be short, you may have issues that need to be dealt with. You may have problems to settle, relationships to mend, or just tasks that need to be completed.

For some people, those extra few months are worth fighting for, despite how they may react to the medication. And, of course, even though side effects are common with cancer medications, not all people experience them.