The liver is a large organ that sits in the upper right part of the abdomen, under the ribcage. The liver has many important functions including:

• breaking down and removing waste
• helping the blood to clot
• storing sugar
• making bile

Liver cell cancer usually develops in livers that are damaged from long term liver disease (particularly cirrhosis) although sometimes it occurs in healthy livers.
Risk factors for liver cancer include liver damage from:

• Excess alcohol consumption
• Obesity and severe fatty liver
• Hepatitis B
• Hepatitis C

Liver cell cancers often don’t cause any specific symptoms. Sometimes symptoms are present such as

• Weight loss
• A lump in the abdomen

In patients with long term liver disease, the development of liver cell cancer can make the symptoms of liver disease suddenly worse. These include:

• Abdominal swelling due to accumulation of fluid (ascites)
• Yellowing of the skin and eyes (jaundice)

These symptoms may also be due to problems that are not liver cell cancer.

Tests to diagnose liver cell cancer and stage the cancer (determine how far it has spread) may include:

• US scan
• CT scan
• MRI scan
• Bone scan
• Blood tests- liver function tests and tumour markers
• Biopsy

There are a number of different types of treatments for liver cancer. Treatment depends on the general health of the liver as well as the stage of the cancer. Some liver cell cancers can be cured, especially if the tumour is small. Even if the cancer cannot be cured, treatments are available that may slow the growth of the tumour, extend life and treat symptoms.

Treatments may include:

• Surgery to remove the part of the liver containing the tumour
• Ablation- destroying the tumour with heat or microwaves delivered via a needle placed in the tumour
• TACE (trans arterial chemo embolisation)- injecting chemotherapy directly into the tumour via the blood vessels and blocking the blood supply to the tumour (embolisation).
• Chemotherapy- medicines that kill cancer cells
• Immunotherapy- medicines that help the immune system fight the cancer
• Radiotherapy- using radiation to kill cancer cells
• Liver transplant- replacement of the diseased liver with a healthy liver from another person