Liver Cancer

The liver, one of the largest organs of the body, has many important functions that keep a person healthy. It removes harmful material from the blood, produces enzymes and bile that help digest food and converts food into substances needed for life and growth.

Cancer of the liver — both primary or secondary cancer — involves an uncontrolled growth of cells. Primary cancer arises within the liver and in its early stages exists only in the liver. Secondary liver cancer, also called metastatic cancer, originates in another organ, such as the colon, stomach, pancreas or breast, and then spreads to the liver. Because secondary cancer is present in at least two organs, the treatment possibilities are more limited than for primary liver cancer.

Primary liver cancer can affect anyone, but occurs most frequently in people with advanced liver disease. In the United States, the incidence of liver cancer is growing, primarily because of the increase in chronic hepatitis infection, which can lead to cancer decades after the infection first occurs.

The risk is greatest for those with longstanding hepatitis B, advanced hepatitis C and cirrhosis.

Because hepatitis viruses are so widespread, liver cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death worldwide. In the United States, most new cases of hepatitis B are sexually transmitted, although the virus also is easily transmitted from mothers to infants during childbirth.The most common cause of hepatitis C is injection drug use.

Certain inherited conditions also predispose a person to liver cancer, including tyrosinemia in children, a rare disorder in which the body can't break down the amino acid tyrosine, and untreated hemochromatosis in adults, a disorder that causes the body to absorb and store too much iron. Common to all these conditions is chronic liver inflammation and injury.

At UCSF Medical Center, treatment options include surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy as well as liver transplants for some patients.

One of the objectives of current research at UCSF is to determine why liver inflammation and injury lead to liver cancer.

Appointments

For more information or to make an appointment, please call the:
Liver Clinic (415) 353-2318

Visit our online bookstore to see books written and recommended by the staff of the UCSF Cancer Resource Center.

Reviewed by health care specialists at UCSF Medical Center.
Last updated April 4, 2008