Primary liver cancer

Welcome to Connect, Tess. I'm glad you found us. There are several members talking about TACE treatment here:
- Have you had TACE or SirSpheres radiation treatment? Please share http://mayocl.in/2dktkzs

In this discussion you'll meet @sara1257 who is receiving TACE treatments for liver cancer. @bbams' husband is getting it from colorectal cancer that metastasized to the liver. I think you'll appreciate the experiences they share and they will welcome you to join the conversation there.

You are not alone. Here on Connect, several members are sharing about Caregiving https://connect.mayoclinic.org/group/caregivers/ Let me introduce you to @IndianaScott.

Tess, has the tumor shrunk from the first 2 treatments?

Hi Tess,
My husband had his 1st procedure the end of June, 2nd radiation mid august. My husband had the EXACT same side effects- flu symptoms with temps reaching as high as 104, sleeping alllllll the time, completely lost his appetite and tons of weight, and "pressure" (I'm guessing he downplayed that but it was pain cause he kept saying "ow") in his side. So as far as side effects they were identical and they said they were related to sir-spheres.

That being said, there was another reason, PLEASE take this with a grain of salt because I don't mean to scare you, everyone's cancer is different and my husbands is EXTREMELY fast growing and aggressive- also the goal wasn't resection because that's not possible for him- the goal for him is life extension. Is your husband doing this in conjunction with chemo? They stopped my husbands for 4 months while going through this due to neuropathy. They wouldn't do CT's during that timeframe because they said they won't be accurate due to the radiation. Well... 3 weeks ago we rushed to the ER due to SEVERE stabbing pain in his side. Turns out the tumors had grown so huge they were pushing on all his organs. Surprise surprise... they WERE able to tell it grew that big and only a little was inflammation. My husband had been saying all along that he thought it was growing but they always chalked it up to radiation side effects. If we had pushed them to do a CT earlier we may not be in the situation we're in now...if this chemo he just started doesn't work then his body won't be able to handle trying anything else- a few nurses that are not associated with his hospital told me it's already over.

So again, I do NOT mean to scare you. Docs (who were amazing... some of the top in the country) have said since the beginning his is one of the most aggressive cancers they've ever seen (tumor in liver 21cm at its biggest... doubled in size within 2 months). So please don't think this will happen to your husband. I'm just telling you our story because if he's not on chemo and he feels like something is "off" don't be afraid to push for a CT!! The side effects of sir-spheres apparently mimic growth.

I have diagnosed in primary liver cancer and I will follow chimio and immunotherapy but surgery is impossible in my case.