Hi Mona:
There is such a thing as RILD, Radiation Induced Liver Disease, which used to be referred to as Radiation Induced Cirrhosis. I think the older terminology was too limiting. Anyway, I don’t have definitive information on this since I’m just a patient In the midst of researching it in my own case. I started treatment non-cirrhotic. I’ve had two resections and my liver was doing perfectly. After radiation … brachytherapy and external beam…my liver numbers have been elevating, and I am mildly jaundiced. I am currently cancer free. My doctors vary in their opinion as to whether this is RILD. Such cases usually resolve themselves, so we’re sort of waiting it out, but a small minority of such cases do lead to advanced stage liver disease and death.
So, this might be what your mother’s physicians were referring to.
Best, Mark