Image-guided treatment for liver cancer.

Patients with early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) usually have no symptoms, so the disease is often advanced by the time it is diagnosed. HCC is resistant to chemotherapy, and the effectiveness of external beam radiation in treating the disease is limited. Surgical resection and liver transplantation offer a potential for cure. However, most patients have unresectable disease. This article discusses the less invasive image-guided ablative and embolization therapies that offer patients palliation of symptoms as well as the potential for increased survival. Radiologic technologists need to know the techniques of these procedures as well as normal and variant anatomy in patients and how those factors affect the delivery of therapeutic agents. This article is a Directed Reading. Your access to Directed Reading quizzes for continuing education credit is determined by your area of interest. For access to other quizzes, go to www.asrt.org/store.