Liver cancer has become a common cancer in the world, with an especially high incidence in the Southeast Asia. Today, minimally invasive treatment has gradually become the main treatment method for cancers. It is well accepted by patients with its characteristics of being minimally invasive and capable of quicker recovery and less bleeding. Interventional treatment is one of the minimally invasive treatments. Artery interventional embolism therapy of Modern Cancer Hospital Guangzhou is a local chemotherapy, where the anti-cancer drugs or embolic agents are infused into the hepatic artery through femoral arterial cannulation. It is the first choice of non-surgical treatment for liver cancer.

What to eat after interventional treatment for liver cancer?

Generally, due to necrosis of cancer cells, patients will have low fever after interventional treatment. At this time, patients should drink more water to promote the drug metabolism and excretion, thus to reduce the toxic side effects. Moreover, patients with poor liver function should eat more digestible food and supplement proper protein. After interventional treatment, patients should eat more foods that can enhance the body immunity and resist liver cancer, such as goose blood, mushrooms, shark, longan, mud eels, walnut. Patients should avoid smoking, drinking and spicy food, such as pepper, chili, cinnamon, etc. and do not eat fried food, barbecue and other hot or fatty food

Liver cancer patients often lose appetite after interventional treatment. Therefore, after interventional treatment, nursing personnel should pay attention to the improvement of patient’s appetite and encourage them to eat. Foods provided should contain high protein, calorie, vitamin and low fat, such as lean meat, fish, egg, dairy product, bean product, fresh vegetable and fruit, etc. and intake of animal oil should be limited. Food for liver cancer patients should consist mainly of digestible soft food and avoid hard, spicy or fried food, with less amount at a time but more times. For patients with liver cirrhosis, they should avoid stimulating foods or foods that contain rich plant fiber to prevent esophageal or gastric variceal bleeding.

Vitamin, fresh vegetable and fruit or fruit juice are the first choice of liver cancer patients after interventional treatment. Patients with fever should drink more water to promote heat distribution. For those who vomit frequently, they should stop food intake to avoid stimulation to the stomach, which can cause even more frequent vomit and energy consumption. Patients with ascites should control the intake of natrium after interventional treatment and eat foods contain low salt or no salt. Patients in hepatic precoma or hepatic coma should be provided with low protein foods after interventional treatment, with total protein content 20-40g per day, and try to choose animal proteins, such as milk, egg, lean milk, etc. which are of high biological value.

Modern Cancer Hospital Guangzhou has special dietitians to work out proper dietary plan for liver cancer patients after artery embolism treatment according to their dietary habits. The dietitians pay attention to the way of cooking and diversification of foods, and well preserve the favor, smell and taste of dishes, so as to promote patients’ appetite.

*Surgery, in addition to the appropriate chemotherapy and radiotherapy, are effective in treating early cancer, but certain patients in late stage of cancer may not be tolerate surgery well as they can be relatively weak. A combination of carefully planned minimally invasive therapy, chemotherapy or radiotherapy can effectively reduce the side effects and discomfort of treatment and may help patient get better efficacy.