Adapted for the Canadian edition by Frances Shepherd, MD
Primary liver cancer—also called hepatocellular carcinoma or hepatoma—may be the most common cancer worldwide. It occurs with great frequency in Asia and Africa, but is relatively uncommon in North America. About 8,000 cases are diagnosed yearly, although immigration patterns are changing the rates at which primary liver cancer is seen in this continent.
Partly because it is so uncommon here, liver cancer is generally not suspected and is at an advanced stage by the time it is diagnosed. Because the liver plays a vital role in removing toxins from the blood, cancer within it causes major metabolic problems. The treatment now available for advanced liver cancer is not particularly effective, and the principal goal of therapy is to relieve the symptoms related to the disease.
Types The most common type of cancer originating in the liver itself—referred to as primary liver cancer—develops in liver cells and is called hepatocellular carcinoma. Rarely, tumors arise from blood vessels in the liver (hemangioendothelioma), other glands in the liver (adenocarcinoma) or connective tissue in the liver (sarcoma, angiosarcoma).
