At the Baylor Liver and Pancreas Disease Center, a broad spectrum of treatment options is available for patients with:

• Benign or malignant liver tumors
• Liver cancer
• Bile duct cancer
• Pancreatic tumors or cancer
• Chronic pancreatitis

Available treatment options include:

• CyberKnife®: For qualified patients, this therapy can eradicate hard-to-reach or inoperable liver tumors with robotically directed, high-dose, pinpointed beams of radiation. Radiation is delivered precisely to the tumor, minimizing the exposure of healthy tissue. This minimally invasive procedure takes three to five days instead of the six to eight weeks of typical radiation treatment. Patients treated with CyberKnife, an outpatient procedure, generally do not experience the usual radiation side effects.
• Radiofrequency Ablation: For non-resectable patients, radiofrequency ablation may be an option to treat primary or metastatic cancer. During this therapy, radiofrequency current is passed through a needle electrode into the tumor, heating the surrounding area and essentially "cooking" the tumor.
• Yttrium-90: This advanced technology is offered to qualified patients with primary or secondary liver cancer. The physician accesses the blood vessels supplying the tumor, then uses a syringe to deliver millions of tiny glass beads loaded with radioactive yttrium-90 directly onto the tumor, effectively blocking the tumor's blood supply.
• Chemoembolization: In chemoembolization, chemotherapy is injected into a tumor through the artery that supplies the tumor's blood flow. Physicians use microscopic beads coated with chemotherapeutic agents to deliver a local killing dose to the tumor without systematic side effects. In the liver, this method has been found to frequently "downsize" many tumors that are too large for transplant criteria.
• Resection: Despite the technological advances in the treatment of liver and pancreatic cancer, surgical resection remains the preferred treatment. Many cases can be done using laparoscopic techniques.
• Choloangiocarcinoma: Bile duct cancer patients may be eligible for a protocol that combines chemotherapy and radiation, and qualify for listing for transplantation.
• Bile Duct Injury: Bile duct injuries can be devastating and difficult to treat. The combined efforts of the surgeons and interventional radiologists on the medical staff of Baylor Dallas work together to achieve successful treatment.
• Transplantation for Chronic Pancreatitis: Patients with chronic pancreatitis experience intractable pain. A select group of patients may be eligible for auto-islet cell transplantation following total pancreatectomy. Baylor is the first institute in the southwestern United States with a cellular laboratory approved by the FDA to produce islet cells for therapy. After surgically removing the pancreas, islet cells are extracted from the diseased organ. These cells are then re-infused into the patient's liver. This reduces the risk of brittle diabetes and often provides substantial pain relief. In some cases, the patients become insulin free.