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Medical Author:

Keith E. Stuart, MD

Keith E. Stuart, MD

Dr. Keith E. Stuart is a medical oncologist specializing in the study and treatment of cancers involving the gastrointestinal tract, with a special interest in tumors involving the liver. He was educated at Harvard University (graduating magna cum laude) and Albert Einstein College of Medicine and did his medical training at the New England Deaconess Hospital.

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Medical Editor:

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, Chief Medical Editor

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, Chief Medical Editor

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, is a U.S. board-certified Anatomic Pathologist with subspecialty training in the fields of Experimental and Molecular Pathology. Dr. Stöppler's educational background includes a BA with Highest Distinction from the University of Virginia and an MD from the University of North Carolina. She completed residency training in Anatomic Pathology at Georgetown University followed by subspecialty fellowship training in molecular diagnostics and experimental pathology.

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The outcome of hepatoma is extremely variable and depends as much upon the state of the liver and the person's health as on any characteristic of the cancer itself. Patients with more than a solitary tumor in the setting of cirrhosis might not live for six months, while those able to undergo surgery of transplant might be fully cured. Therapies such as radiofrequency ablation, chemoembolization, cryoablation, radiosurgery, radioembolization, and systemic therapy are frequently performed sequentially over a patient's lifetime, depending upon the changes as the disease progresses. Average survival for patients who are able to be treated with these methods is between one and two years.

Despite these grim statistics, there is still room for optimism in this disease. Creative use of multiple techniques can lead to significant prolongation of a patient's life, while keeping them feeling as well as possible. Experimental drugs are becoming increasingly common as researchers have recognized the molecular defects causing this cancer and using this knowledge to develop new targets. The evolution and improvement in radiologic and interventional technology for treating localized tumors has meant that millions of people who would previously never have been treated have experienced meaningful prolongation of their lives. In fact, the chance of living for more than two years with hepatoma has more than doubled since the early 1990s. Increased medical, scientific, and pharmaceutical attention to this difficult disease will undoubtedly make this even better in the future.

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