Immune Combination Therapy Helps Patients With Advanced Liver Cancer Recover

Tung-Ping Poon (L), honorary professor in the Department of Surgery at the University of Hong Kong, founder and President of Hong Kong Liver and Gastrointestinal Cancer Foundation, and Cheung Foon Yu (R), honorary treasurer and clinical oncology specialist (Hong Kong Liver Cancer and Gastrointestinal Cancer Foundation provide), talk about Advanced Liver Cancer Finds Recovery Through Immune Combination Therapy, on Oct. 3, 2023. Provided by Hong Kong Liver and Gastrointestinal Cancer Foundation

Liver cancer is the third leading cancer killer in Hong Kong, with 1,447 deaths in 2021, accounting for 9.6 percent of all cancer-related deaths. Unfortunately, only one out of five patients is suitable for surgical resection treatment, and terminal patients are usually deemed unsuitable. However, there are advanced liver cancer patients in Hong Kong who successfully shrink their tumors after undergoing one year of immune combination therapy. They can then undergo resection surgery to ‘zero out’ the tumor.

According to the Hong Kong Liver and Gastrointestinal Cancer Foundation, tumor removal surgery is the first choice treatment for early to mid-stage liver cancer. Surgery is not suitable if the tumor is too large, if it has invaded major blood vessels, or if cancer cells have spread. Immunotherapy activates autoimmunity against cancer cells.

Liver Cancer Decreases After Immune Combination Therapy

Mr. Chang, approximately 60 years old, is a carrier of the hepatitis B virus, does not take antiviral drugs, and does not do regular screenings. At the beginning of 2021, he felt a hard lump in his upper abdomen. As many relatives around him had died of liver cancer, he thought there was little hope of curing it and ignored the pain. It was not until November of the same year that he sought medical treatment due to abdominal pain and found that he was diagnosed with advanced liver cancer.