What is Liver cancer
Liver cancer is cancer that begins in the cells of your liver. Your liver is a football-sized organ that
sits in the upper right portion of your abdomen, beneath your diaphragm and above your stomach.
Types of Liver cancer
Several types of cancer can form in the liver. The most common type of liver cancer is
hepatocellular
carcinoma, which begins in the main type of liver cell (hepatocyte). Other types of liver
cancer, such as
intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma and
hepatoblastoma, are much
less common.
Not all cancers that affect the liver are considered liver cancer. Cancer that begins in another area of the
body — such as the colon, lung or breast — and then spreads to the liver is called
metastatic
cancer rather than liver cancer. And this type of cancer is named after the organ in which it
began — such as metastatic colon cancer to describe cancer that begins in the colon and spreads to the
liver. Cancer that spreads to the liver is more common than cancer that begins in the liver cells.
Symptoms of Liver cancer
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
