Liver Cancer: What to Know

Liver cancer is an abnormal growth of cells in the liver. The liver is found on the upper right side of the belly, just below the ribs.

What are the causes?

The exact cause of liver cancer isn't known.

What increases the risk?

You're more likely to develop liver cancer if:

• You have scarring of the liver (cirrhosis). This may be caused by:
  • Too much alcohol.
  • Hepatitis B or hepatitis C.
  • Smoking.
• You have a buildup of fat in the liver without using alcohol.
• You're male.
• You have certain medical conditions, like:
  • Diabetes.
  • Too much body weight.
  • Too much iron in the body.
• You're exposed to aflatoxins. These are made by certain types of mold that grow on food products, such as corn and peanuts.
• You use medicines like:
  • Medicines or supplements to build muscles.
  • Medicines for birth control.

What are the signs or symptoms?

In some cases, there are few or no early symptoms. As the disease grows, spreads, or gets worse, symptoms may include:

• Weight loss that can't be explained.
• Throwing up or feeling like throwing up.
• Feeling itchy.
• Abnormal bruising or bleeding.
• Yellowing of the skin or the whites of the eye (jaundice).
• Dark-colored pee.
• White, chalky poop.

Liver cancer may cause other medical conditions to develop, such as:

• Hypercalcemia. This is high calcium levels in the blood, which may cause:
  • Weakness.
  • Constipation.
  • Confusion.
• Hypoglycemia. This is low blood sugar, which may cause:
  • Tiredness.
  • Confusion.
  • Sweating.
• Gynecomastia. This is enlarged breasts in males.
• Small testicles.
• Looking and feeling flushed.
• High cholesterol. This is when your blood has high levels of fat.

How is this diagnosed?

Liver cancer is diagnosed with a medical history and physical exam. You may also have tests, including:

• Blood tests.
• Imaging tests, such as CT scan, MRI, ultrasound, or bone scan.
• Laparoscopy to look at your liver and other organs.
• Biopsy.

If liver cancer is confirmed, it will be staged to determine how much cancer there is and how bad it is. Staging checks:

• The size of the tumor.
• If the cancer has spread.
• Where the cancer has spread.

How is this treated?

Treatment for this condition depends on the type and stage of the cancer, and your overall health. You may need more than one type of treatment. Treatment may include:

• Systemic treatment. This is a type of treatment that works throughout the whole body, such as:
  • Chemotherapy.
  • Targeted therapy.
  • Immunotherapy.
• Localized treatment. This type of treatment is focused on the area where the cancer is. It includes:
  • Radiation therapy.
  • Ablation.
  • Embolization.
  • Chemoembolization.
  • Radioembolization.
• Surgery to remove the tumor.
  • Sometimes surgery is done to remove the bad liver and replace it with a healthy liver from a donor (liver transplant).
• Taking part in clinical trials. This is an option if new or experimental treatments are effective.

Follow these instructions at home:

Medicines

• Take your medicines only as told.
• Ask your health care provider about changing or stopping:
  • Any medicines you take.
  • Any vitamins, herbs, or supplements you take.
• Do not take aspirin or ibuprofen (NSAIDS) unless you're told to.

General instructions

• Think about joining a cancer support group.
  • Ask your provider for more information about local and online support groups. This may help you learn to deal with the stress of having liver cancer.
• Talk to your provider about any side effects of treatment and the best way to manage them.
• Keep all follow-up visits. Your provider needs to monitor how the treatment is working.

Where to find more information

To learn more, go to these websites:

• American Cancer Society at cancer.org. Then:
  1. Type "Liver Cancer" in the search box.
  2. Find the links you need.
• National Cancer Institute at cancer.gov. Then:
  1. Type "What Is Liver Cancer?" in the search box.
  2. Find the links you need.
• National Comprehensive Cancer Network at nccn.org. Then:
  1. Type "Liver Cancer" in the search box.
  2. Find the links you need.

Contact a health care provider if:

• You can't eat because you feel like throwing up or you throw up.
• You feel weaker or more tired than usual.
• Your pain gets worse.
• You feel depressed or anxious.
• Your skin or the whites of your eyes become more yellow.
• You have a fever, chills, or body aches.

Get help right away if:

• You feel confused.
• Pain in your belly gets worse and unmanageable.
• Your belly or legs start to swell.
• You notice unusual bleeding or bleeding that doesn't stop.
• You have maroon, black, or bloody poops.

These symptoms may be an emergency. Call 911 right away.

• Do not wait to see if the symptoms will go away.
• Do not drive yourself to the hospital.