Since the 1980s, liver cancer rates have been on the rise and the overall death rate has doubled. However, despite this increase, liver cancer remains a relatively uncommon cancer type, ranking thirteenth in the United States, even when bile duct cancers are included in the statistics. Another distinctive characteristic of liver cancer is that it has a narrow set of risks – specifically chronic hepatitis B (HBV) and hepatitis C (HCV) infection. Though individuals without chronic hepatitis can develop liver cancer, they represent only a small percentage of overall cases.
Chronic Hepatitis – A Key Concern
Why are HBV and HCV and HCV such significant risk factors for liver cancer? The main reason is that these infections increase the likelihood that an individual will develop cirrhosis, which creates long-term liver function problems. In the United States, however, these infections are so treatable that they don’t often become chronic, while elsewhere in the world, liver cancer is the most common type of cancer because there are fewer measures for preventing and treating HBV and HCV infections.
Non-Hepatitis Risk Factors
Chronic hepatitis may be the most significant risk factor for liver cancer, but it isn’t the only one. Besides hepatitis, liver cancer may stem from excessive alcohol use – another major cause of cirrhosis, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, certain genetic conditions like Wilson’s disease, and exposure to aflatoxins, a carcinogen produced by certain molds. Some of these issues are preventable, such as by limiting alcohol use, while others may occur in the background, without a patient’s knowledge.
Types Of Liver Cancer
Liver cancer statistics typically focus on two major types of cancer: hepatocellular carcinoma and cholangiocarcinoma, which is actually cancer of the bile duct. However, these are not the only types of liver cancer. Other types of liver cancer include a rare blood vessel cancer known as liver angiosarcoma and hepatoblastoma, a cancer found almost exclusively in children under age 3. Like hepatocellular carcinomas, liver angiosarcomas tend to be diagnosed later in their progression and have a high mortality rate, whereas the survival rate for hepatoblastoma is over 90% with appropriate treatment.
Spot The Symptoms
The survival rate for liver cancer has improved significantly over the last 40 years, but even so it stands at 18% over 5 years. One reason for this is that people don’t always recognize the signs of the disease, leading to a delayed diagnosis. That’s why one of the best ways to fight this disease is by improving the diagnostic process, starting with patient awareness. So, what should patients be on the lookout for?
One of the most common symptoms of liver cancer is right-sided abdominal pain, a symptom which is generally caused by a liver tumor pressing on other internal structures. This pain may worsen when you take a deep breath, and it may even be possible to feel an enlarged liver in the lower abdomen. For the same reasons, individuals with liver cancer may experience right-sided shoulder pain due to pressure on the nerves in the area.
Another common symptom of liver cancer is jaundice, which presents as yellowing of the skin and the sclera (whites) of the eyes. Jaundice is a sign of poor liver function and, while it can be a sign of other types of liver disease, including non-cancerous cirrhosis, it is a fairly universal indicator that something is wrong with the liver. Additionally, it’s important to note that doctors should be attentive to potential indicators of jaundice in patients with darker skin, since they may not be well-trained to identify its presentation.
In coming years, oncologists and researchers should prioritize work to identify why liver cancer rates have increased so much over the last 40 years, as well as how diagnosis and treatment can be improved. Given today’s numbers, there’s a lot of room to increase even five-year survival rates, and liver cancer patients and their families deserve better.