This page was reviewed under our medical and editorial policy by
Maurie Markman, MD, President, Medicine & Science at CTCA.
This page was updated on April 20, 2022.
Every liver cancer patient is different. The cancer experts at Cancer Treatment Centers of America® (CTCA) have extensive experience in staging and diagnosing the disease and developing a treatment plan tailored to each patient’s specific type of liver cancer.
Liver cancer has several types, each based on the type of cells that becomes cancerous. They include:
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), also called hepatoma, is the most common type of liver cancer, accounting for approximately 75 percent of all liver cancers. HCC starts in the main type of liver cells, called hepatocellular cells. Most cases of HCC are the result of infection with hepatitis B or C, or cirrhosis of the liver caused by alcoholism.
HCC may start as a single growing tumor that possibly spreads throughout the liver at more advanced stages, or it shows up as multiple small tumors. The second type is more common and is associated with cirrhosis.
Possible treatments include:
Other targeted medications or therapies are also available.
Fibrolamellar HCC is a rare type of HCC that is typically more responsive to treatment than other types of liver cancer. Fibrolamellar cancer is treated similarly to HCC.
Cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer) occurs in the small, tube-like bile ducts within the liver that carry bile to the gallbladder. Cholangiocarcinomas account for 10-20 percent of all liver cancers. Intrahepatic bile duct cancer begins in ducts located in the liver. Extrahepatic bile duct cancer develops in ducts outside the liver.
Though they may not present themselves until more advanced stages, possible symptoms include:
Bile duct cancer is treated similarly to HCC.
Angiosarcoma, also called hemangiocarcinoma, accounts for about 1 percent of all liver cancers. Angiosarcomas begin in the blood vessels of the liver and grow quickly. They are typically diagnosed at an advanced stage.
Angiosarcoma in the liver may have no symptoms or feel like a lump in the abdomen.
These cancers are typically very difficult to treat, but chemotherapy or radiation may be used to slow their progression.
Secondary liver cancer, also known as a liver metastasis, develops when primary cancer from another part of the body spreads to the liver. Secondary liver cancers are more common than primary liver cancers, according to a 2016 study published in SAGE Journals.
Most liver metastases originate from colon or colorectal cancer. More than half of patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer develop secondary liver cancer.
Cancer may also spread to the liver from the lung, breast, stomach, pancreas, kidney, esophagus or skin. The liver is one of the most common places for cancer to spread.
Symptoms vary depending on how much of the liver is affected. Possible symptoms include:
Surgery, ablation or radiation therapy may be used to treat liver metastases.
Secondary liver cancer is considered part of your primary cancer. For example, if the cancer started in the lungs then spread to the liver, your secondary liver cancer would still be treated as lung cancer.
Hepatoblastoma, though rare, is the most common liver cancer in pediatric patients. It occurs in the lobes of the liver.
It’s usually diagnosed within the first three years of life. The main symptom is a large, painful abdominal mass. Blood chemistry tests or imaging methods, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or computed tomography (CT) scans, may be used to identify a hepatoblastoma.
The most common treatment path starts with neoadjuvant chemotherapy, which means chemotherapy intended to reduce, not completely get rid of, the tumor. After this, the tumor may be removed with surgery in many cases.
The survival rate is between 70 percent to 80 percent, according to F1000Research.