UNDERSTANDING
LIVER CANCER
Cancer is a disease in which cells in the body grow out of control. Cancer that starts in the liver is called liver cancer.
Between 2000 and 2019, the number of people diagnosed with liver cancer increased by 34%. In 2022, an estimated 41,260 Americans will discover they have liver cancer and 30,520 will lose their lives to this disease.
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common form of liver cancer in the United States. HCC has a greater impact on ethnic and minority communities — new cases of HCC have risen in most racial/ethnic groups, with the highest amount in Hispanic people in the US.
THE MOST COMMON FORM OF LIVER CANCER
HCC makes up about 80% of primary liver cancers. Primary liver cancer is cancer that begins in the liver.
There are certain known risk factors for liver cancer, and some people are at higher risk.
Those who are at higher risk for liver cancer should see their doctor regularly to help detect it early. A doctor can do blood tests or imaging tests to take a picture of the liver to see if there is a tumor. The types of doctors that usually check for liver cancer are hepatologists, gastroenterologists, and primary care physicians.
STAGES OF LIVER CANCER
When liver cancer is diagnosed, doctors will attempt to determine how severe the disease is. The name for this process is staging.
Staging takes several factors into consideration, including:
Tumor size
If the cancer has spread outside the liver
If it has spread, where in the body it has spread
There are 2 general stages of liver cancer — early and advanced.
- Early stages of liver cancer may be treated with surgery or a transplant and possibly cured
- Advanced stages of liver cancer are usually not treatable with surgery
Here are some reasons why cancer may not be treatable with surgery:
- Cancer has spread throughout the liver
- The location of tumor(s) in the liver make removal especially difficult
- Patients are not healthy enough to undergo surgery
- Patients refuse surgery
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