University of Minnesota researchers are launching research aimed at improving treatment for a deadly form of liver cancer found in people who have developed cirrhosis.
Treating this type of cancer, known as hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), is difficult because surgically cutting out the cancer can destroy an already poorly functioning liver.
Erik Cressman, an assistant professor of radiology in the Medical School, is developing a minimally invasive method that destroys cancerous tissue by injecting two chemicals into the liver tumor. When the chemicals combine and react, they produce intense heat that destroys cells around the injection site. He has done pilot testing on pig livers.
