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About Us

As part of the only university medical center in Orange County, division faculty members not only has access to the latest therapies available for liver and pancreatic cancer, but also performs a high volume of liver resections for hepatocellular carcinoma, Whipple procedures and distal pancreatectomies for pancreatic tumors, and complex biliary bypasses for bile duct cancers. In fact, the team at UC Irvine performs more than 50 Whipple procedures each year and is a leader in the use of laparoscopy for the removal of distal pancreatic cancer. The transplantation team focuses on salvaging insulin-producing cells from the pancreas for patients with type 1 diabetes or chronic pancreatitis.

The team also offers novel clinical therapies to significantly increase the precision of treatment for liver cancer while minimizing damage to surrounding healthy tissue. For example, laparoscopic, ultrasound-guided, radiofrequency ablation uses a “heating probe” to destroy only the tumor. Other minimally invasive treatments include TheraSphere® and Sirtex Sir-Spheres®, microscopic radioactive beads that are injected directly into the arterial blood supply of both primary (TheraSphere) and metastatic (Sirtex) liver tumors. UC Irvine is one of only 20 sites in the United States authorized to provide TheraSphere to patients through a special exemption provided by the Food and Drug Administration. Other noninvasive therapies include oral or intravenous medications as well as vaccines.