Introduction

Liver cancer is a well-known condition that is less common in the United States than in Africa and East Asia. Approximately 21,370 Americans will be diagnosed with liver cancer in 2008, according to the American Cancer Society. About 15,190 of those diagnosed will be men and 6,180 will be women. Nearly all people diagnosed with liver cancer are between the ages of 45 and 85, with the average age of 65.

The liver is a large internal organ that keeps you healthy by filtering dangerous substances out of your blood. It also makes enzymes (substances that speed up chemical changes), blood clotting factors, and bile, a substance that helps you digest food. Liver cancer is also called hepatic cancer. Hepatic is a medical term meaning “of or relating to the liver” (originating from the Greek “hepatikos”).

Cancer of the liver develops when liver cells grow and divide without stopping. The out-of-control liver cells form lumps (masses) called tumors. Liver tumors may develop as benign (noncancerous) growths that do not spread to other tissues or organs, or as malignant (cancerous) growths with cells that spread to other areas of the body and form new tumors.

Although the exact cause of liver cancer is not yet known, risk factors that increase the chances of developing this disease have been identified. Although not everyone with liver cancer has these risk factors, they include: being older; being male; having long-term inflammation (hepatitis) or scarring (cirrhosis) of the liver, or certain inherited metabolic diseases causing cirrhosis; drinking too much alcohol; taking anabolic steroids to build muscle strength; being exposed to toxic chemicals, such as aflatoxins, vinyl chloride, thorium dioxide, or arsenic; being very overweight; or having diabetes.