I echo what simplyprincess has advised - Please encourage your friend to get not only a second opinion but a third!
I am from a family of physicians and know that doctors are human...their opinions are on what they have experienced with their patients in the past.
In May my boyfriend was diagnosed with liver cancer. We are in a relatively large city with a good medical community and sought out a specialist immediately. The first doctor we saw made it sound like "no big deal" to operate and remove the tumors, but since liver surgery is very invasive and tedious we sought a second opinion from a well known University Med School close by. The doctors there gave him only 6-9 months to live! We were shocked. I know what you are feeling for your friend. It was the ABSOLUTE DARKEST day in my entire life, bar none. To say I was numb was an understatement. Although he is 56 y/o, he had never even been hospitalized and had literally no experience with doctors other that for his annual physicals.
Since we had two such different opinions, I insisted he get a third - I researched his condition night and day until I learned who were the best hepatic surgeons in the country. We settled on a surgeon at the Mayo Clinic in MN, and are we glad we did. He was seen at Mayo on a Thursday and had a liver resection the following Monday. It was a difficult surgery, but as of now my b/f is cancer-free. Of course, he was one of the lucky ones to have caught it early (it has a very low survival rate because it is so asymptomatic), but had we not gathered out wits about us and insisted on a referral to Mayo, who knows where he'd be now.
I don't mean to give you any false hopes, but it is amazing how opinions can vary in the medical community. Like I said, they are as human as we are.
You, your friend and her family will be in my prayers. I understand the pain you are in, and will pray that no matter what the final outcome, you will all have the strength and courage to face the coming months.