Childhood liver cancer

Your partner in childhood liver cancer care

If your child is diagnosed with cancer, VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center is here to help.

We provide a level of expertise found only at the top 4 percent of cancer centers across the country designated by the National Cancer Institute. Massey is the only center in the Richmond area and one of two in Virginia designated by the NCI to lead and shape America’s cancer research efforts.

Massey's care is provided through VCU Health at VCU Medical Center, an award-winning hospital.

Why choose VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center for your childhood liver cancer care

In partnership with Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU, the Liver Tumor Clinic at VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center consists of national leaders in cancer care and research from multiple disciplines who work together to provide the highest-quality diagnosis and treatment from transplant hepatologists and surgeons to interventional radiologists. Here, our team can draw blood, expedite diagnostics and initiate other care modalities, as needed.

Discover the 5 Cs that make us the right choice for your child's cancer care. Choose Massey for your child's cancer care because we are:

Cutting-edge

Our patients have access to the most advanced treatments possible for the best possible outcomes thanks to resources only available at advanced academic medical centers like VCU Health and close collaboration between our specialists. Possible treatments options include:

Liver Transplantation: Staff are able to rapidly evaluate a patient’s eligibility. Our transplant center performs both living donor and deceased donor liver transplants.

Liver Resection: Our talented team of liver transplant surgeons offer state-of-the-art surgical techniques, such as laparoscopic and robotic-assisted liver resections.

Ablation: We perform thermal therapies percutaneously by a interventional radiologist or laparoscopically by a surgeon.

Internal Radiation Therapy: This powerful arterial therapy utilizes small glass beads containing a radioactive substance that are injected into the tumor, segment or lobe containing the cancer. This outpatient therapy can dramatically shrink and control cancers for extended periods.

TACE (trans-arterial chemoembolization): An interventional radiology technique where beads – often containing chemotherapy – are injected directly into the artery supplying blood to a tumor. This cuts off blood flow to the tumor and poisons it, leading to necrosis.

SBRT (stereotactic body radiation therapy): This advanced treatment uses non-parallel beams of radiation that are focused on the tumor, killing cancer cells with minimal surrounding tissue damage.

Targeted therapy: These drugs attack specific weaknesses in cancer cells such as genetic mutations.

Immunotherapy: Immunotherapy uses the body’s own defenses to attack cancer cells. Different immunotherapy drugs work in different ways to activate the immune system and fight cancer.

Clinical trials: Clinical trials offer a chance to try promising new cancer treatments before they are approved for commercial use. As an NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, Massey has one of the largest offerings of cancer clinical trials in the state.

Palliative Care: Palliative care focuses on relieving symptoms caused by chronic diseases such as cancer. Massey’s internationally-renowned palliative care team offers holistic approaches to managing pain and side effects caused by treatments.

Comprehensive

At Massey, we provide comprehensive care for a variety of liver diseases including hepatocellular carcinoma, cholangiocarcinoma, hepatic adenoma, hemangiomas or other kinds of liver lesions. A nurse coordinator guides each patient through their treatment plan, which is recommended by a multidisciplinary team known as the Liver Tumor Board. This group consists of hepatologists, medical and radiation oncologists, surgeons, interventional and diagnostic radiologists, genetic counselors, social workers, clinical trials nurses and others who collaborate to develop a comprehensive care plan for each patient. As part of Richmond’s only National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Liver Tumor Board meets weekly and exceeds all standards set by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN).

Collaborative

Cancer care generally requires multiple forms of therapy and various specialized doctors. At Massey, our specialists collaborate in interdisciplinary teams to coordinate all aspects and stages of patient care and conveniently provide that care in one location. Massey pioneered the multidisciplinary approach to cancer care in our region. This approach combines the expertise of many doctors and ensures that your child will receive the ideal combination and sequence of treatment.

Compassionate

Through respectful, attentive and compassionate care, Massey’s cancer care team builds healing relationships with you and your child that help reduce suffering from cancer.

Customized

Recognizing that each patient is unique and each type of cancer is different, Massey provides treatment strategies and care plans tailored and individualized to your child.