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Liver Cancer

This section has been reviewed and approved by the Cancer.Net Editorial Board, 11/08

Overview

Overview


Primary liver cancer is cancer that begins in the liver. It is more common for the liver to be the site of metastasis (spreading) from another cancer, such as pancreas, colon, stomach, breast, or lung cancer. However, these are not primary liver cancer. For more information about cancer that started in another part of the body and spread to the liver, please see Cancer.Net’s information for that type of cancer.

The liver is the largest internal organ in the body, and its functions are vital to the digestion of food. No one can survive without a liver. Functions of the liver include:

  • Collecting and filtering blood from the intestines

  • Processing and storing needed nutrients absorbed from the intestines

  • Chemically metabolizing (changing) some nutrients into energy or to repair and build tissue

  • Producing some of the body’s blood clotting factors

  • Removing toxic wastes from the body

  • Helping maintain the proper sugar level in the body

This section covers only with adult primary liver cancer. The subtypes of adult primary liver cancer are named for the type of cell from which they develop.

Adult Primary Liver Cancers


Type of Liver Cancer
Description
How Common

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)
Hepatocellular carcinoma can follow different growth patterns. Some spread tentacle-like growths through the liver. This pattern is the most common one in the United States. Others start as a single tumor that spreads to other parts of the liver later in the disease. Still others develop as nodules at several different places in the liver. Occasionally, a pattern isn't clear.
Most (about 90%) adult primary liver cancers are hepatocellular carcinomas.

Cholangiocarcinoma
(also called bile duct cancer)
Cholangiocarcinomas grow from cells in the bile duct of the liver. The bile duct is a thin tube that extends from the liver to the small intestine. The bile duct starts inside the liver as several smaller tubes that join together.
About 9% of adult primary liver cancers are cholangiocarcinomas. For more information, please review Cancer.Net’s Guide to Bile Duct Cancer

Angiosarcoma
Angiosarcoma starts in the blood vessels of the liver and grows very rapidly.
About 1% of adult primary liver cancers are angiosarcomas. For more information, please read Cancer.Net's Guide to Sarcoma.


Statistics

In 2009, an estimated 22,620 adults (16,410 men and 6,210 women) in the United States will be diagnosed with primary liver cancer. An estimated 18,160 deaths (12,090 men and 6,070 women) from the disease will occur this year. Liver cancer is the sixth most common cause of cancer death among men, and ninth most common cause of cancer death among women.

The five-year relative survival rate (percentage of people who survive at least five years after the cancer is detected, excluding those who die from other diseases) of people with liver cancer is 12%.

Liver cancer is much more common in developing countries within Africa and East Asia. In some countries, it is the most common cancer type.

Cancer survival statistics should be interpreted with caution. These estimates are based on data from thousands of cases of this type of cancer, but the actual risk for a particular individual may differ. It is not possible to tell a person how long he or she will live with liver cancer. Because the survival statistics are measured in five-year intervals, they may not represent advances made in the treatment or diagnosis of this cancer.

Statistics adapted from the American Cancer Society's publication, Cancer Facts and Figures 2009.

Find out more about basic cancer terms used in this section.

The remainder of this section refers to the most common type of adult primary liver cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

 
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Last Updated: December 02, 2008