The liver is the largest glandular organ in your body. It has a critical job of filtering blood and keeping our body free of toxins and harmful substances. Cancer can start in the liver when cells in the body begin to grow out of control. It’s estimated that about 34-000 people will be diagnosed with liver cancer annually in the United States.
If liver cancer is detected early, the 5-year survival rate is about 33-percent. But, if liver cancer spreads to surrounding organs, tissue, or lymph nodes the survival rate drops to 11-percent. This is why early detection is so important! The good news is there are several treatments available that can help improve your quality of life. Here are the signs, symptoms, and treatment options for liver cancer.
What is Liver Cancer
If cancer starts in the liver, it’s considered primary liver cancer. That said, most diagnoses are secondary or metastatic liver cancer, which means the cancer started elsewhere in the body then spread to the liver.
The liver is made up of different types of cells, and because of this, different types of tumors can form. WebMD explains, “Some of these are benign (noncancerous), and some are cancerous and can spread to other parts of the body (metastasize).” Since the tumors have different causes, each tumor will be treated differently.