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Combination Therapy for Liver Metastases: Chemotherapy and Radiologic Interventions

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Image-Guided Cancer Therapy

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Abstract

The liver is a likely site of metastases for almost every malignancy. However, some cancers are more likely to metastasize to liver than others. Additionally, for some cancers, liver may be the only site of metastases giving a unique opportunity to treat a tumor with more of a regional focus. Particularly in the case of colorectal cancer, this has become increasingly common as full disease control may be achieved. However, whenever cancer has metastasized to the liver, there is always the possibility that it has spread systemically. Therefore, approaches to isolated liver metastases have varied, largely due to the natural history of the disease involved. Approaches include regional therapy only, systemic therapy, and combinations of regional and systemic therapy. Liver metastasis secondary to primary breast, lung, melanoma, and gastrointestinal tumors including colon, esophageal, and gastric are being studied with dual therapy of HAI (hepatic arterial infusion) and systemic chemotherapy. The research describing liver metastasis from solid tumors includes only case studies and phase I trials. Given the paucity of literature for these tumors, this chapter will focus largely on colorectal cancer and the combination approach as there are chapters to focus on regional approaches as well as the principles of systemic approaches in each of the diseases.

Systemic and localized chemotherapy in combination with radiologic interventions for the treatment of cancers that have metastasized to the liver focuses on colorectal cancer.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, 2220 Pierce Avenue, Nashville, TN, 37232-6307, USA

    Melinda Dunlap & Jordan Berlin

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  1. Melinda Dunlap
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  2. Jordan Berlin
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Correspondence to Melinda Dunlap .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Department of Diagnostic Imaging Rhode Island Hospital, Providence, Rhode Island, USA

    Damian E. Dupuy

  2. Department of Surgery and Radiology Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York, USA

    Yuman Fong

  3. McMullen Consulting, LLC, Surprise, Arizona, USA

    William N. McMullen

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Dunlap, M., Berlin, J. (2013). Combination Therapy for Liver Metastases: Chemotherapy and Radiologic Interventions. In: Dupuy, D., Fong, Y., McMullen, W. (eds) Image-Guided Cancer Therapy. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0751-6_33

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0751-6_33

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