Primary and secondary liver tumours

Abstract

Primary liver tumours are the second-most-common cause of cancer death in men worldwide, and the sixth-most-common cause of death in women. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most-common primary liver tumour, and is responsible for around 1500 deaths per year in the UK. There is evidence that the incidence of HCC is rising and is likely a result of the hepatitis C virus epidemic. Emerging risk factors, such as obesity, may play an important role in the future, due to its increasing prevalence, particularly in the context of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. The second-most-common primary liver malignancy is cholangiocarcinoma, along with rarer types including fibrolamellar carcinoma, hepatoblastoma and mesenchymal cancers of the liver. Secondary (metastatic) tumours of the liver are more common than primary tumours. The most-common sites of the primary malignancy metastasising to the liver include breast, lung and colonic cancer.