Comprehensive Care for Children with Liver Tumors
The Liver Tumor Program at Cincinnati Children’s is an international leader in treating patients with liver tumors, including those in the advanced stages of disease and those requiring liver transplants.
Our team is led by oncologists and surgeons who collaborate with other specialists from a variety of disciplines, including hepatology, radiology, gastroenterology, nutrition therapy, nursing and many others. The Liver Tumor Program is co-directed by Jim Geller, MD, a pediatric oncologist and an expert in liver tumor therapy and new anticancer drug development, and Greg M. Tiao, MD, a pediatric general and transplant surgeon.
Members of our program are international leaders in the field. Geller and Tiao currently co-chair the Children’s Oncology Group’s international study of pediatric liver cancer (AHEP-1531) in collaboration with researchers in Europe and Japan. Since 2012, our team of experts has had more than 50 peer-reviewed liver tumor-specific journal articles published and has given more than 40 national and international presentations.
Our team provides comprehensive, multidisciplinary care for children and young adults with liver tumors, including:
- Newly diagnosed hepatoblastoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, hemangioendothelioma, hepatic sarcoma and other forms of liver cancer
- Advanced, unresponsive or relapsed liver cancer
- Complex liver tumors that may require a liver transplant
- Benign liver tumors
Our specialists share a passion for acquiring and applying new discoveries to provide patients with the most innovative, effective care possible. Families are drawn to our program not only because of our innovative therapies, but also because of our comprehensive, family-centered approach to patient care, which involves creating an individualized treatment plan for each patient.
By bringing together experts in different areas, our multidisciplinary team makes clinic visits more efficient for families and ensures thoughtful, coordinated care.
Individualized Treatment
Each new patient undergoes an extensive evaluation in which specialists from different areas of expertise come together to review the child’s medical needs. The team shares perspectives from the most up-to-date research and clinical practice to develop an individualized treatment plan. These specialists continue to collaborate throughout the child’s course of treatment and provide referring physicians with regular updates.
If You Need a Liver Transplant
Patients who need transplants are fast-tracked through an evaluation process, with a median time of 15 days between evaluation and listing on the transplant waiting list, and a median waiting time of 32 days between listing and transplant.
Nursing Excellence
Nurses play an integral role on our multidisciplinary team, providing patient care and extensive education. Cincinnati Children’s is known for nursing excellence. In 2018, the medical center again received Magnet status from the American Nurses Credentialing Center. Only about 8 percent of U.S. hospitals have achieved this status from the Magnet Recognition Program.
