Description

Most people don't have signs and symptoms in the early stages of primary liver cancer. When signs and symptoms do appear, they may include: Losing weight without trying Loss of appetite Upper abdominal pain Nausea and vomiting General weakness and fatigue Abdominal swelling Yellow discoloration of your skin and the whites of your eyes (jaundice) White, chalky stools Benign liver growths (non cancerous growths) Most growths in the liver are benign. These are not cancer. Many benign growths can be treated without surgery, although some do need an operation. Benign growths of the liver do not go on to develop into cancer. Primary and secondary liver cancer Cancers are named after the type of cell and part of the body they first begin to grow. This is the primary cancer. These cells can break away from the primary site and travel to other parts of the body in the blood or lymphatic system. The cells eventually lodge in another body organ and begin to grow there. This is called a secondary cancer. Although the cells are still the same type - that of the primary cancer. This is important because cancers are treated according to the original cell type. So for example, secondary breast cancers that have spread to the liver are treated with breast cancer treatments, because the cancer cells in the liver are breast cancer cells. Secondary liver cancer Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) This is also sometimes called hepatoma or HCC. It's the most common type of primary liver cancer. The information in this section is mainly about hepatocellular cancers. Hepatocellular means liver cells. Carcinoma means cancer. This type of liver cancer develops from the main liver cells called hepatocytes. It's more common in people who have a damaged liver from cirrhosis. It is much more likely to develop in men than in women and becomes more common as people get older.

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