Radiation therapy can shrink or kill tumor cells. At Memorial Sloan Kettering, we may recommend this approach if you have a primary liver tumor that can’t be removed with surgery. It can be used alone or in combination with chemotherapy or other treatments.

Both image-guided radiation therapy and respiratory gating have the potential to reduce damage to normal tissue during your treatment.

Image-Guided Radiation Therapy

Image-guided radiation therapy uses real-time imaging with a CT scan or x-rays during radiation therapy to help ensure an ideal setup and lack of motion during treatment. This allows your treatment team to deliver radiation with incredible accuracy.

Respiratory Gating

Because tumors in the liver and organs in the abdomen shift as you breathe, it can be challenging to precisely deliver radiation therapy to cancer tissue. With respiratory gating, we deliver radiation only at certain points during your breathing cycle, when the tumors and certain parts of the liver are in a specific position. This approach decreases the radiation dose to the surrounding healthy tissue.