Information on Liver Cancer

According to the Cancer Center Treatments of America, liver cancer is extremely common in Asia and Africa, but less common in the United States. According to the Illinois Department of Health, liver cancer typically results from cancer that began elsewhere in the human body. Liver cancer occurs most commonly among individuals between the ages of 60 and 70 in the United States. Liver cancer occurs more frequently in males than females by a 2:1 ratio.

Types

• According to the VCU Massey Cancer Center, there are three types of liver cancer: cholangiocarcinoma, hepatoblastoma and angiosarcoma. Cholangiocarcinoma starts in either the bile ducts or lining of bile channels in the liver. Hepatoblastoma is a type of liver cancer that's common among young children and often leads to early puberty. Angiosarcoma is the rarest form of liver cancer and starts in the blood vessels of the liver.

Symptoms

• According to the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego Medical Center, symptoms of liver cancer include loss of appetite, upset stomach, pain in the upper right abdomen or back, yellowing of the skin and fatigue.

Risk Factors

• According to the American Cancer Society, risk factors for liver cancer include chronic hepatitis infections, race, gender, cirrhosis, inherited metabolic diseases, obesity, diabetes, aflatoxins, exposure to vinyl chloride and thorium dioxide, use of anabolic steroids, exposure to arsenic, birth control pills and tobacco use. In America, Pacific Islanders and Asian Americans get liver disease most commonly. Males are also at a much higher risk for liver cancer than females.

Treatment

• According to the National Cancer Institute, there are four types of treatment for liver cancer: surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy and ethanol injection. Partial hepatectomy is a type of surgery that removes part of the liver that has cancer. There are two types of radiation therapy, including external radiation therapy and internal radiation therapy. External radiation therapy involves using a machine outside of the body to expose cancer cells to radiation. Internal radiation therapy involves injecting the body directly with a radioactive substance. Chemotherapy uses drugs to try to stop or kill cancer cells. Ethanol injection involves injecting alcohol into the liver to kill cancer cells.

Deaths and Cases

• According to the National Cancer Institute, there will be 22,620 new liver cancer cases in 2009 and 18,160 people will die from liver cancer in the United States.