Gastrointestinal (GI) Oncology Program

Liver Cancer

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What is Primary Liver Cancer?

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Get answers to your liver cancer questions by e-mailing Dr. Nader Hanna or Dr. Ben Philosophe.

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Note: This is for informational purposes only. Doctors cannot provide a diagnosis via e-mail.

Cancer of the liver is a disease in which cancerous cells grow in the tissues of the liver. There are several types of liver tumors, including some that are not cancerous. Primary liver cancer is cancer that has started in the liver. It is different from cancer that starts somewhere else in the body and spreads to the liver. The most common type of primary liver cancer, accounting for 84% of liver cancer cases, is called hepatocellular carcinoma.

The liver is one of the largest organs in the body. It weighs three pounds and fills the upper right side of the abdomen, under the right lung and rib cage. The liver plays a vital role in making food into energy and filtering and storing blood.

Among its many responsibilities are:

Liver cancer is rare and becoming more rare in Europe and the United States, with only about 15,000 new cases diagnosed (and about 13,800 deaths reported) in 2000. It is far more common and becoming more so in parts of Africa and east Asia, where risk factors for the disease are more widespread.

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This page was last updated on: May 6, 2008.

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