Percutaneous ethanol (alcohol) injection for Liver Cancer treatment :In this technique for liver cancer, pure alcohol is injected into the tumor through a very thin needle with the help of ultrasound or CT visual guidance. Alcohol induces tumor destruction by drawing water out of tumor cells (dehydrating them) and thereby altering (denaturing) the structure of cellular proteins.

It may take up to five or six sessions of injections to completely destroy the cancer. The ideal patient for alcohol injection has fewer than three liver cancer tumors, each of which is:

• well defined (distinct margins)
• less than 3 cm in diameter
• surrounded by a shell consisting of scar tissue (fibrous encapsulation)
• not near the surface of the liver

Liver cancer treatment::Additionally, patients with liver cancer undergoing alcohol injection should have no signs of chronic liver failure, such as ascites or jaundice. (Patients with liver failure would not be able to tolerate the alcohol injections.)

The most common side effect of alcohol injection in this liver cancer treatment method is leakage of alcohol onto the surface of the liver and into the abdominal cavity, thereby causing pain and fever. It is important that the location of the tumor relative to the adjacent blood vessels and bile ducts is clearly identified. The reason for needing to locate these structures is to avoid injuring them during the procedure and causing bleeding, bile duct inflammation, or bile leakage.

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