Liver cancer general information
Liver cancer is a form of cancer with a high mortality rate. Liver cancers can be
classified into two types. They are either primary, when the cancer starts in the liver
itself; or metastatic, when the cancer has spread to the liver from some other part of the
body.
Primary liver cancer
Primary liver cancer is a relatively rare disease in the United States, representing
about 2% of all malignancies. It is, however, much more common in other parts of the
world, representing from 10-50% of malignancies in Africa and parts of Asia. The American
Cancer Society estimates that in 1998, at least 14,000 new cases of liver cancer will be
diagnosed. It will also cause roughly 13,000 deaths in the United States in 1998.
Types of primary liver cancer
In adults, most primary liver cancers belong to one of two types: hepatomas, or
hepatocellular carcinomas, which start in the liver tissue itself; and cholangiomas, or
cholangiocarcinomas, which are cancers that develop in the bile ducts inside the liver.
About 90% of primary liver cancers are hepatomas. In the United States, about five persons
in every 200,000 will develop a hepatoma; in Africa and Asia, over 40 persons in 200,000
will develop this form of cancer. Two rare types of primary liver cancer are mixed-cell tumors and Kupffer cell sarcomas.
There is one type of primary liver cancer that usually occurs in children younger than
four years of age and between the ages of 12-15. This type of childhood liver cancer is
called a hepatoblastoma. Unlike liver cancers in adults, hepatoblastomas have a good
chance of being treated successfully. Approximately 70% of children with hepatoblastomas
experience complete cures. If the tumor is detected early, the survival rate is over 90%.
Metastatic liver cancer
The second major category of liver cancer, metastatic liver cancer, is about 20 times
as common in the United States as primary liver cancer. Because blood from all parts of
the body must pass through the liver for filtration, cancer cells from other organs and
tissues easily reach the liver, where they can lodge and grow into secondary tumors.
Primary cancers in the colon, stomach, pancreas, rectum, esophagus, breast, lung, or skin
are the most likely to spread (metastasize) to the liver. It is not unusual for the
metastatic cancer in the liver to be the first noticeable sign of a cancer that started in
another organ. After cirrhosis, metastatic liver cancer is the most common cause of fatal
liver disease. |