Medical Oncologist
CION Cancer Clinics
TACE for liver metastases: when it is used for cancer that has spread | CION Cancer Clinics
TACE can sometimes treat cancer that has spread to the liver from another organ, mostly when the liver holds most of the disease. It is used less often than for cancer that starts in the liver, and usually alongside medicines. This page explains which cancers it is considered for, how the team decides, who it does not suit and what this page cannot tell you. At CION Cancer Clinics, a multidisciplinary tumour board weighs your liver function and your scans before recommending any treatment.
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Medically reviewed by Dr. Naresh GunduConsultant Medical Oncologist · MBBS, DNB (Internal Medicine), DM (Medical Oncology, AIIMS) · last reviewed October 2026, next review due October 2027
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On this page
- Can TACE be used when cancer has spread to the liver?
- Which cancers that spread to the liver might TACE be used for?
- How does the team decide whether TACE is worth trying?
- What do the words in the TACE plan mean?
- Who is TACE for liver metastases not suitable for?
- What this page cannot tell you
- Common questions about TACE for liver metastases
The short answer
Can TACE be used when cancer has spread to the liver?
Sometimes, yes. TACE can be used for cancer that has spread to the liver from another organ, but it is a less common choice than for cancer that started in the liver, and it is usually considered only when the liver is the main or only place the cancer has reached.
This page is about secondary liver cancer, also called liver metastases. The cancer cells in the liver came from somewhere else, such as the bowel, breast, pancreas or the eye, and they still behave like that original cancer. If you are not sure which kind you have, our page on primary and secondary liver cancer explains the difference.
Why the main treatment is usually elsewhere
Cancer that has reached the liver has travelled through the blood, so it may also be present in places scans cannot yet see. For that reason most people with liver metastases are treated first with medicines that reach the whole body, such as chemotherapy, targeted therapy or hormone therapy. TACE treats only the liver. It is added when the liver tumours are the main threat, or when medicines are no longer controlling them.
Spread from bowel cancer is covered in detail on our colon cancer spread to the liver page.Where it is used
Which cancers that spread to the liver might TACE be used for?
The evidence differs a great deal from one cancer to the next. These are the situations where a tumour board is most likely to discuss it.
Neuroendocrine tumours
These slow-growing tumours often spread to the liver and can release hormones that cause flushing and diarrhoea. Blocking their blood supply can shrink the liver tumours and ease these symptoms. This is one of the more established uses. See our page on neuroendocrine tumours in the liver.
Bowel cancer
Surgery, ablation and chemotherapy come first. A form of TACE that uses beads loaded with a chemotherapy drug is sometimes used when the cancer is limited to the liver and other treatment has stopped working. Evidence is more limited.
Melanoma of the eye
Melanoma that starts inside the eye has a strong tendency to spread to the liver and often nowhere else at first. Liver-directed treatments, including embolisation, are among the options specialist teams discuss.
Other cancers
For breast, stomach, pancreas and other cancers, TACE is used only occasionally, in carefully chosen people, and the evidence is thin. Medicines usually do more of the work.
Ask how much evidence there is for your own cancer type. A good team will answer plainly.Not sure whether this applies to you?
Ask an oncologistBefore the procedure
How does the team decide whether TACE is worth trying?
Confirming where the cancer started
A biopsy and a full set of scans make sure the liver tumours really are secondary, and from which organ. Treatment depends entirely on that answer.
Checking for spread elsewhere
A CT of the chest and abdomen, and sometimes a PET-CT, looks for cancer outside the liver. TACE makes most sense when the liver holds most of the disease.
Testing liver function
Blood tests show whether the healthy part of the liver is working well enough. Liver metastases usually grow in a liver without cirrhosis, which often helps, but large tumours can still crowd it.
Discussion at the tumour board
Medical, surgical and radiation oncologists and interventional radiologists compare TACE with surgery, ablation, Y-90 and medicines for your situation.
Planning around your medicines
Chemotherapy or other treatment may be paused briefly around the procedure. Your oncologist plans the timing so the two do not clash.
On your report
What do the words in the TACE plan mean?
- Liver metastases
- Cancer that has spread to the liver from another organ. Also called secondary liver cancer.
- Liver-dominant disease
- Most of the cancer in the body is in the liver, with little or none elsewhere. This is when liver-directed treatment is most often considered.
- Hepatic artery
- The artery that feeds liver tumours. TACE works by sending treatment down this vessel and then blocking it near the tumour.
- Drug-eluting beads
- Tiny beads loaded with a chemotherapy drug that seep it slowly into the tumour while blocking its blood supply.
- Bland embolisation
- Blocking the tumour's blood supply without any chemotherapy drug. Sometimes used for neuroendocrine tumours.
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Did you know
Liver tumours take most of their blood from the hepatic artery, while the healthy liver relies mostly on the portal vein. That difference is what lets TACE starve a tumour while sparing much of the normal liver around it.
Not for everyone
Who is TACE for liver metastases not suitable for?
TACE is unlikely to help if the cancer has spread widely outside the liver, to the lungs, bones or lining of the abdomen. Treating only the liver will not control cancer growing elsewhere, and medicines are the better tool.
When the liver or body cannot take it
It is usually not offered if the tumours fill most of the liver, if you have jaundice, or if your kidneys or general strength are poor. Blocked bile ducts, or a previous operation joining the bile duct to the bowel, raise the risk of a liver abscess afterwards, and the team will weigh this carefully.
When something else works better
If the liver tumours can be removed by surgery or destroyed by ablation, those are usually preferred, especially for bowel cancer. Our page on whether liver metastases can be treated by surgery explains when that is possible. For some people, Y-90 radioembolisation is chosen instead of TACE.
Being straight with you
What this page cannot tell you
It cannot tell you whether TACE will help your cancer. That depends on where the cancer started, how much is in the liver, what is happening elsewhere in the body and what treatment you have already had. Only the team that has seen all your scans can weigh those together.
It cannot predict how long it will work
For some people TACE holds the liver tumours for a useful stretch. For others it does little. Nobody can tell in advance, and a page that claims to is not being honest with you.
Where to take your questions
CION coordinates TACE through NABH-accredited partner hospitals, where interventional radiologists perform it. The CION team reviews your scans at the tumour board, plans any medicines around it and follows you up afterwards. Bring every report and scan you have to that conversation.
Questions we are asked
Common questions about TACE for liver metastases
Is TACE for liver metastases the same procedure as for liver cancer?
The procedure is very similar. A thin tube is passed through an artery into the liver, treatment is released near the tumour and the vessel is blocked. What differs is the reason for doing it, the drug used and how it fits with the rest of your treatment.
Will I still need chemotherapy?
Usually, yes. TACE treats only the liver, while the cancer is a disease of the whole body once it has spread. Most people continue or return to medicines such as chemotherapy, targeted therapy or hormone therapy. Your oncologist decides the order.
Can TACE remove liver metastases completely?
It is rarely used with that aim. TACE is mainly used to control liver tumours, shrink them or ease symptoms. When the aim is to remove every tumour, surgery or ablation are usually the treatments considered, if the tumours can be reached safely.
How is TACE different from Y-90?
Both travel through the hepatic artery. TACE uses a chemotherapy drug and blocks the vessel. Y-90 uses tiny radioactive beads that give radiation from inside the tumour. Our page on Y-90 for liver metastases explains when that is chosen.
What does recovery feel like?
Many people have pain under the ribs, fever and nausea for a few days afterwards. This is called post-embolisation syndrome and is expected. Most people stay in hospital briefly. Fever with shivering, or worsening pain later on, should be reported to your team the same day.
Can TACE be repeated?
Yes, if the first treatment helped and the liver has recovered well. Often one part of the liver is treated at a time. Each repeat is decided on the latest scan and blood tests, not on a fixed schedule.
How much does TACE cost in Hyderabad?
The cost depends on the drug and beads used, the number of sessions and the hospital stay. Ask for a written, itemised estimate. Our TACE cost in Hyderabad page explains what moves the bill and how schemes such as Aarogyasri may apply.
My father's scan shows spots on the liver. Where do we start?
Start by finding out where the cancer began, because that decides everything else. Gather every scan, biopsy report and blood test you have. Call the CION helpline and the team will tell you which specialist should see him first.
Your Specialists
Meet CION's liver cancer specialists. Bring your scan reports and liver blood tests.
Our medical and surgical oncologists plan liver cancer care together, weighing the tumour and how well your liver works before choosing surgery, a liver-directed procedure or medicines.
Medical Oncologist
Dr. C. Raghavendra Reddy
MBBS(Gold Medal), DNB(General Medicine), DM(Medical Oncology)(Gold Medal)
Medical Oncologist
Dr. Bharati Devi Gorantla
MBBS, MD(General Medicine), DM(Medical Oncology)(Adyar,Chennai), ECMO, MRCP SCE(UK)
Medical Oncologist
Dr. Owais Mohammed
MBBS, MD (General Medicine), DrNB (Medical Oncology), ECMO, MRCP SCE (Medical Oncology) (UK)
Medical Oncologist
Medical Oncologist
Surgical Oncologist
Dr. Muralidhar Muddusetty
MBBS (AIIMS), MS (Surgery) (AIIMS), DNB (Surgical Oncology), MRCS (Edinburgh)
Surgical Oncologist
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Sources
- Cancer Research UK — Secondary liver cancer
- American Cancer Society — Embolization Therapy for Liver Cancer
- Macmillan Cancer Support — Secondary cancer
- NHS — Neuroendocrine cancers
This page is general information, not a prescription. Do not change or stop any treatment based on what you read here. If anything is worrying you, contact your own treating team — or call our helpline and we will help you reach the right specialist.
Keep reading
Related pages
My report says 'liver metastases'What the phrase on the report actually meansY-90 for liver metastasesThe other artery-based treatment, and when it is chosenAblation for liver metastases from other cancersWhen small tumours can be destroyed with a needleColon cancer spread to the liverThe full guide for bowel cancer, the commonest cause
Talk to us
Has TACE been mentioned for cancer that spread to the liver?
Send us the scans and reports and our tumour board can look at whether liver-directed treatment makes sense alongside your medicines. One helpline serves every CION centre.