Liver Cancer

The liver is the largest organ we have inside our body and it is located just below your right lung. It is a very complex organ, it has lots of different functions and we cannot live without the liver. Some of the most important jobs of the liver are to convert fats and carbohydrates from our food into energy and to store nutrients like glucose and vitamins until the body needs them. The liver has also an important role in filtering out harmful substances from the body. When cancer is found in the liver it is important to determine whether the cancer started in the liver or whether it started somewhere else in the body. If a cancer starts in the liver it is called a primary liver cancer. Sometimes a cancer first starts growing in another part of the body and then some of the cancer cells break away and travel to the liver through the blood or the lymphatic system and then starts growing in the liver as well. This is called a secondary cancer and is NOT a liver cancer. For example if the cancer started in the breast and then some cancer cells travelled to the liver and continued to grow there, then that cancer is a secondary breast cancer that has spread to the liver. This is a very important difference as cancers are treated according to the original cells that exist in the organ where the cancer first started growing. This section relates to cancer that has started in the liver — primary liver cancer. If you are looking for information about a cancer that has spread to the liver from another part of the body, you must look in the section for cancer of that particular body part / organ. We don´t know the exact cause of liver cancer but in the majority of cases the liver has been damaged or scarred so that the person has developed a condition called liver ‘cirrhosis´. Such a cirrhosis can have different causes and is related to certain viral infections, drinking too much alcohol over a long time or being obese and eating an unhealthy diet. There are 4 main categories of primary liver cancer and please see below if you want to find out more.

To help you find answers to some of your questions, we have linked to Maggie’s CancerLinks where you will be signposted to high quality information about liver cancer. The information on these websites is not written specifically for young people but it is written using simple language in a way that most people will be able to understand. Don’t worry if there are lots of links to different websites. Have a look on the description of the links and very often you will find the information you are searching for on the first website that you look at. If you just want general information about cancer you could read the ‘About cancer’ section on riprap.

Remember that the information on these sites is general. Within each cancer type, there are different variations, different stages, different treatments and people may also respond differently to the same treatments. Each person is an individual and because of this, generic information may not fit the situation you are thinking of. Often your parents or someone else who knows the details can answer your questions best. Also, please feel free to get in touch with us here at riprap. We can help you sorting through information or discuss things you’ve heard or read or anything at all that’s on your mind.

Don’t forget that there are lots of effective treatments for cancer these days and many cancers can be completely cured. There are also very good treatments to control cancers that cannot be cured and research is going on all the time to find new treatments that can control and cure cancers.

Page updated 13 July 2017