What are the treatment options for liver metastases?

Liver metastases are cancer deposits that began in another organ and travelled to the liver. The liver findings are assessed together with the original tumour, other scan results, previous treatments, and your general health. A specialist team may review whether the deposits can be removed, treated in place, or controlled with medicine.

Chemotherapy travels through the bloodstream and may treat cancer in the liver and elsewhere. Some people may be considered for liver resection, which removes selected deposits with a margin of healthy tissue. Tumour ablation destroys selected deposits using heat or another local technique, often through a needle. These approaches can sometimes be combined with systemic treatment.

Ask whether imaging shows disease limited to the liver or in other organs, and whether the deposits are close to major blood vessels or bile ducts. Your team may discuss the original cancer type, previous medicines, liver function, and the aim of treatment. Read about [Liver Metastases](/conditions/liver-metastases/) and the procedures [Liver Resection](/treatments/surgical-oncology/liver-resection/) and [Tumour Ablation](/treatments/surgical-oncology/tumour-ablation/) before your consultation.

Contact your oncology team promptly for new yellowing of the skin or eyes, dark urine, increasing abdominal swelling, persistent vomiting, confusion, or rapidly worsening pain. Seek urgent help for severe pain, fainting, breathing difficulty, or heavy bleeding. Treatment side effects such as fever during chemotherapy also need prompt clinical advice.

Which treatment goal applies to me: removing deposits, controlling growth, easing symptoms, or several of these? Could surgery or ablation be suitable, and what makes it unsafe or unsuitable? How will you monitor liver function and response? What side effects should prompt a same-day call?