In order to protect those affected by cancers of the liver, YES believes it is time for policymakers to make the surveillance and treatment of liver tumors a priority for cancer education, treatment, and research.

The early detection and multidisciplinary treatment of liver tumors is essential for preventing deaths from cancer.  Unfortunately, though detection for primary liver cancer and many treatments are now available for both primary and metastatic liver cancer, too many Americans – patients and physicians alike – remain unaware.

 

EDUCATION

We urge Congress to help ensure that the detection, surveillance, and treatment of cancer of the liver become educational priorities within the health care community, among medical professionals and patients alike.

·         Lack of knowledge of early detection and treatment possibilities causes Americans unnecessarily to lose their lives.  It is essential that cancer patients, their caregivers, and the physicians who treat them fully understand the advances in liver tumor detection and treatment.

·         The number of individuals with cancer in the liver is rising while the incidence of cancer overall continues to decrease. 

·         200,000 Americans will discover this year that their cancer has spread to the liver from other cancers (most often, breast, colon, esophageal, neuroendocrine, melanoma, pancreatic).

·         Treatments are readily available for the 200,000 Americans who are diagnosed with cancers of the liver but often these treatments are never discussed by patients and physicians.

·         Thirty million Americans are living with chronic liver disease and are at high risk for developing primary liver cancer.

·         24,120 Americans will be diagnosed with primary liver cancer this year.  18,910 will die this year.

·         Through surveillance, primary liver cancer can be detected early when “cure” is possible.  Prioritizing liver cancer education is cost-effective and will save lives.

SURVEILLANCE AND TREATMENT

We urge Congress to make liver cancer surveillance and treatment a priority.

·         Primary liver cancer and metastases of cancer to the liver are no longer death sentences – if surveillance measures and treatment options are known and made available.

·         Currently available liver tumor biomarkers, such as AFP-L3 and DCP, are FDA-cleared, specific to liver cancer and are covered by Medicare.

·         Unfortunately, these same surveillance tools that provide cost-effective intervention are woefully underutilized.

·         Liver tumor treatments, such as Selective Internal Radiation Therapy, Transarterial Chemoembolization, Hepatic Arterial Infusion, and Radio Frequency Ablation are already defined as medically necessary and covered by Medicare.

·          “Liver cancer is often viewed as a death sentence by the public and many physicians as well.  But that’s not true,” said Dr. Andrew Kennedy, co-medical director of Wake Radiology Oncology. Kennedy, who helped develop a promising therapy using microspheres (charged with radiation) to target tumors, continued, “With surgery and cryosurgery, ablation, chemotherapy, radiation and other treatments, patients have a much more positive outlook than they did a decade ago.” [“Liver Symposium Offers Information for Liver Cancer Patients,” Star-Telegram, April 11, 2010]

·         Many insurers still make it difficult for patients younger than 65 who have been diagnosed with liver tumors to be covered for these very same treatments.

·         Prioritizing liver cancer surveillance and treatments will enhance quality of life and expand longevity.

RESEARCH

We urge Congress to increase funds for research for the surveillance and treatment of cancers of the liver.

·         While cancer prevention and research have effectively led to a decline in the number of Americans diagnosed with, and dying from, cancer – the number of persons affected by primary liver cancer and cancer that has spread to the liver continues to climb. 

·          The National Cancer Institute spends less than five percent of its budget on metastasis cancers, yet it is the metastases and not the original cancer that nearly always cause demise and death. “[Metastasis is] responsible for 90 percent of the morbidity and mortality, yet less than 5 percent of the budget is focused on it,” according to Dr. Danny Welch, senior scientist at the Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. [“A Pink Ribbon Race, Years Long,” New York Times, January 18, 2011]

·         Congress has wisely made other cancers priorities for funding, such as breast cancer and prostate cancer, thereby greatly improving prevention and treatment options.  However, too little is understood about when these and other cancers spread to the liver.

·         Prioritizing research for cancers of the liver will reap remarkable returns across the spectrum, including the enhanced development of cancer biomarkers for surveillance, improved detection, and targeted, less-toxic therapies.  Most importantly, research will improve the quality of care and life for cancer patients.

 

YES! Beat Liver Tumors, February 2011