Hello Doctor. My husband was diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma one year ago. He has had hep c for poss three decades. It was inoperable. He has had two chemoembolizations and is now on nexavar. The chemo resulted in two tumours dying and another grew resulting in 5 now. Is this palliative care and what lifespan can be expected approximately?
Thanks for your question on Chat Doctor. Hepato Cellular Carcinoma(HCC) is very notorious and aggressive cancer. It carries the worst prognosis and even worse when hepatitis c is positive. Life expectancy in stage 4 HCC is less than 1\u00a0year and with Hepatitis C positive it is less than 6-7 months. So for him palliative care is the only option. Give him nutritional support like multivitamin, anti oxidants and high protein diet. Give centrally acting painkillers for pain relief. Discuss end of life issues.