[2] In practice, hepatic artery embolization is an option if the neoplastic growth is mainly within the liver.
The percutaneous Seldinger technique introduces a catheter, which is a thin flexible tube made of medical grade material, into the hepatic artery under radiological control.
[1] Tumor cells get over 90% of their nutrients from the hepatic artery,[1] while the normal cells of the liver get about 70-80 percent of their nutrients and 50% their oxygen supply from the portal vein, and thus can survive with the hepatic artery effectively blocked.
[1][2] Once the catheter is carefully placed in the artery or in a selected branch, the blood flow can be occluded by injecting various items, such as plastic particles, glue, metal coils, foam, or by deploying a balloon.
[16] In one method, embospheres bound with chemotherapy agents injected into the hepatic artery, lodge in downstream capillaries.