Liver Cancer

The liver is the largest and one of the most critical internal organs in the body. While some masses found on or in the liver are benign and may not be problematic unless they grow too large, others are very serious health issues that require early and aggressive treatment. Primary malignant liver disorders include hepatocellular cancer (which is the most often seen type of liver cancer in adults), cancer of the bile ducts, angiosarcomas and hemangiosarcomas (which start in the blood vessels within the liver) and hepatoblastoma (typically diagnosed in young children). When cancer has spread to the liver from another part of the body, this is called metastatic liver cancer or secondary liver cancer -- and it is actually the more prevalent type of liver cancer seen in the U.S. and Europe. Treatments for liver cancer depend on the stage of the disease and specific condition of the patient, but may include surgical interventions in the form of a hepatectomy or liver transplant, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, tumor embolization or ablation and targeted therapy.