Medical Oncologist
CION Cancer Clinics
What a good liver cancer service looks like | CION Cancer Clinics
A good liver cancer service is a team, not one famous doctor. It checks how well your liver works before planning, discusses your scans with several specialists, and can reach every treatment you might need, directly or through partners it trusts. Most of all, someone keeps track of you between steps. This page explains what to look for, what to ask, and which signs suggest a second opinion. At CION Cancer Clinics, our team supports patients and families through symptoms, follow-up and life during and after 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
- What should I look for in a liver cancer centre?
- What does a well-run liver cancer service actually do?
- How can I tell whether a centre works this way?
- Which signs are reassuring, and which should make me pause?
- What do families often get wrong when choosing a centre?
- What this page cannot tell you
- Common questions about choosing a liver cancer service
The short answer
What should I look for in a liver cancer centre?
Look for a team, not a single famous name. A good liver cancer service looks at the tumour and the liver together, reviews your case with several specialists before deciding, and can reach every treatment you might need, either directly or through partner hospitals it works with closely. Above all, someone in it keeps track of you between steps.
Why this matters more in liver cancer
Liver cancer has one of the longest pathways in cancer care. A family physician spots a problem, a gastroenterologist orders a scan, a hepatologist manages the cirrhosis, a radiologist reads the images, an interventional radiologist does TACE or ablation, an oncologist plans medicines, and a transplant surgeon may be involved too. Each handover is a place where a patient can be lost or delayed. The page on why liver cancer needs a team explains why no one doctor can cover all of it.
Primary or secondary
This page is about cancer that started in the liver. If the cancer spread to the liver from the bowel, breast or elsewhere, the right team is the one treating that original cancer, and the questions differ.
What good looks like
What does a well-run liver cancer service actually do?
These are the signs that matter. None of them depend on how large or well known the hospital is.
It looks at the liver as well as the tumour
Before any plan, the team checks how well the liver is working, often with a Child-Pugh score (a grade of liver function from blood tests and examination). A small tumour in a weak liver needs a different plan from the same tumour in a healthy one.
It discusses your case at a tumour board
A meeting where an oncologist, surgeon, radiologist, interventional radiologist and hepatologist look at your scans together. The recommendation comes from the group, not one doctor.
It can reach the full range of options
Surgery, ablation, TACE, radiation, medicines and transplant assessment. Few hospitals do all of these themselves. A good service is honest about which it arranges through partners, and makes those referrals happen.
Someone keeps track of you
A named doctor or coordinator who knows what is next, chases results and answers when you call.
- A written plan you can take home
- Clear dates for the next scan
- A number to call between visits
Not sure whether this applies to you?
Ask an oncologistAt the first visit
How can I tell whether a centre works this way?
Ask who will review the scans
"Will my case be discussed at a tumour board, and is a hepatologist part of it?" A clear yes, with an idea of when, is a good sign.
Ask what else was considered
A good team can explain why it chose one treatment over the others. If only one option is ever mentioned, ask why the rest do not fit.
Ask where each step happens
If a procedure is done at a partner hospital, ask how your reports travel between the two and who you call if something goes wrong afterwards.
Ask for the plan in writing
A short summary of the diagnosis, the stage, the liver function and the plan. Keep it in your file and show it to every doctor you see.
Ask for a written estimate
An itemised estimate of costs, including what is quoted separately by partner hospitals, before you agree to anything.
Side by side
Which signs are reassuring, and which should make me pause?
Reassuring
Worth a second opinion
Your liver function is discussed before treatment
Treatment is offered without anyone mentioning the cirrhosis
Several options are explained, with reasons
One option only, with pressure to decide today
The team says plainly what it arranges through partners
Vague answers about who will actually do the procedure
Costs are given in writing, as a range
A single verbal figure, or promises about results
You are welcome to take your reports elsewhere
Reluctance to share scans for a second opinion
Leave a number, we will call you
One field. No form to fill in, and no charge for the call.
Commonly believed
What do families often get wrong when choosing a centre?
"The biggest hospital must be the right one."
Size helps only if the liver team inside it works together. A smaller centre with a working tumour board and good partner links can serve you well. Ask how decisions are made, not how many beds there are.
"We need the one doctor everyone recommends."
Liver cancer is rarely one doctor's decision. A single specialist, however skilled, sees the problem through their own treatment. The group view is what protects you from that.
"A centre that uses partner hospitals is second rate."
Most services, in India and elsewhere, rely on partners for at least some steps. What matters is whether the handovers are planned and someone owns your care across them.
"Asking for a second opinion will offend the doctor."
A good team expects it and will share your reports. The page on getting a second opinion explains how to ask.
Being straight with you
What this page cannot tell you
It cannot tell you which hospital to choose. That depends on your stage, your liver function, the treatment you are likely to need, your budget and how far you can travel. Distance matters more than people expect when follow-up scans come round regularly for years.
It cannot judge a team you have not met
The signs above are a starting point. The clearest test is the first consultation: whether the doctor explains your liver and your options in words you understand, and answers your questions without hurry. The questions on what to ask before you agree to treatment help with that conversation.
Who this does not apply to
If you need emergency care for bleeding, confusion or fever with a swollen abdomen, go to the nearest hospital today. Choosing a centre comes later. If your cancer spread to the liver from another organ, ask the team treating that cancer first. How CION fits in: its oncologists and tumour board plan care and give medicines, and procedures are coordinated through accredited partner hospitals.
Questions we are asked
Common questions about choosing a liver cancer service
Does it matter whether the centre has a hepatologist?
Yes. Most people with liver cancer also have liver disease, and that disease often decides which treatments are safe. A hepatologist on the team, or closely linked to it, keeps the liver stable through treatment and manages hepatitis tablets, fluid and bleeding risk.
Should I choose a cancer centre or a general hospital?
Either can work if the right specialists review your case together. Ask how the decision will be made and who will be involved. The page comparing a general hospital and a cancer centre sets out the differences.
How quickly should a good service see me?
Soon enough that the plan is made while the scan is still recent. Ask at the start how long the next steps will take. If weeks pass with no date for the tumour board or a test, call and ask what is holding it up.
Is it a bad sign if they want more scans first?
Usually not. Liver tumours are often diagnosed on a specific kind of scan, and an older or incomplete scan may not be enough to plan treatment safely. Ask what the new scan will add and how it will change the decision.
Can a good service be outside Hyderabad?
Yes. What matters is the team and its links, not the city. Many families travel to Hyderabad for the main decision and some procedures, then have follow-up blood tests and some scans closer to home. Ask whether that split is possible.
What if two good teams recommend different treatments?
That can happen when more than one option is reasonable. Ask each team why they chose theirs and what would change their mind. The page on when doctors disagree explains how to weigh the two.
Should a good centre accept Aarogyasri or Ayushman Bharat?
It helps many families, but scheme rules and the list of empanelled hospitals change. Ask the centre's help desk which schemes apply to your treatment and what paperwork is needed, and check the details at the time you apply.
How do I get my case reviewed by CION?
Bring or send your scans, reports and any treatment summary. CION's oncologists review the case and can take it to the tumour board, and the team will explain what it does itself and what it arranges through partners. One helpline serves every CION centre.
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
- National Cancer Institute — Liver Cancer Treatment
- American Cancer Society — Treating Liver Cancer
- EASL — EASL Clinical Practice Guidelines: management of hepatocellular carcinoma
- Cancer Research UK — Treatment for liver cancer
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
What a liver cancer tumour board decidesThe meeting at the heart of a good serviceWhere delays happen and how to avoid themThe handovers where patients get lostGetting a second opinion on a liver cancer planWhen the warning signs show upQuestions to ask before agreeing to a treatmentTake these to the first consultation
Talk to us
Want a team to look at your whole case?
Send us your scans and reports, and a CION oncologist will review them and explain the options, including what is arranged through partner hospitals. One helpline serves every CION centre.