Liver Cancer Surgery - Mayo Clinic

If you have liver cancer, you need specialized planning and attention before and after treatment. Your Mayo Clinic team will support you throughout every step of the process with compassionate care tailored to you.

Your team includes global experts in surgery, medical oncology, hepatology, radiation oncology, interventional radiology and pathology. When our doctors with diverse expertise work together for you, we can optimize the success of your treatment along with your whole health, including any underlying conditions or complex scenarios.

Mayo Clinic specialists routinely treat all types and stages of liver cancer, including the most complex and advanced cases. We offer a full spectrum of treatment options for liver cancer. Your care plan may include:  

Minimally invasive surgery
Minor and major liver resection
Tumor ablation
Radiation therapy
Proton beam therapy
Targeted chemotherapy
Immunotherapy
Clinical trials
Liver transplant

For many people with liver cancer, surgery offers the best chance for a cure. Studies show patients do better when they have surgery at hospitals that perform these procedures often. Mayo Clinic surgeons help more than 1,500 people with liver cancer each year, so you can trust you’re in expert hands.

If a transplant is your best option for a cure, our Liver Transplant Program is one of the most experienced in the nation. We have one of the largest living-donor programs in the U.S., allowing for reduced time on the waiting list and improved outcomes.

Treatment for liver cancer is not one-size-fits-all. At Mayo Clinic, your liver cancer team takes time to understand your specific cancer so we can help you fight it. How liver cancer responds to treatment depends on where it originated, whether in the liver or another location like the colon. Our specialists use advanced diagnostics to evaluate your tumor and your genetics, and provide treatment options that will work best for you.

Mayo Clinic’s liver cancer team is unique in its ability to help you become “surgery ready.” People who have been told they are not a candidate for surgery elsewhere often find that our liver cancer team is able to perform surgery successfully. Using minimally invasive techniques, our interventional radiologists can shrink your tumor or block the blood supply to your liver, which can help your liver withstand surgery. By working as a team and thinking outside the box, we can often provide life-saving surgery to people who’ve been told they have few options.

Many people who have liver cancer have underlying diseases, like cirrhosis or fatty liver disease, that might make them ineligible for surgery. At Mayo Clinic, your personalized plan will address any underlying conditions you may have, which can also help make surgery or other life-prolonging treatments an option.

Our goal is to achieve a cure when possible and to optimize quality of life across all treatment plans. We are dedicated to giving people with liver cancer more treatment options and providing hope in times when there seems to be none. Mayo Clinic is top-ranked in more specialties than any other hospital, according to U.S. News & World Report. We are an esteemed National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center, which means we are driving the future of groundbreaking research, clinical trial access, and innovative therapies.

Offering Hope at Every Step of Your Liver Cancer Journey

Providing high-quality treatment and compassionate care.

A customized approach and hope for life-changing surgery.

When it's time to find answers, you know where to go.

Contact us to request an appointment.

Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center is designated by the National Cancer Institute as a comprehensive cancer center.

Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center is nationally accredited by the American College of Surgeons' Commission on Cancer (CoC).