Causes of Liver Cancer
While liver cancer is not common in the United States, liver cancer is the 6th deadliest cancer in the US with an estimated 19,000 deaths in 2010. Liver cancer patients have a five year survival rate of 13.8 percent from the time they are diagnosed. Awareness and prevention of the causes may be the key to defeating this type of cancer which is on the increase in the US.
In 2010, an estimated 17,430 men and 6,690 women (24,120) will be diagnosed with liver cancer. Primary liver cancer is cancer that originates in the liver, as opposed to secondary liver cancer in which the tumor develops in an adjacent organ (pancreas, colon, stomach, lungs, breasts), and metastasize (spreads) to the liver. Liver cancer (or any cancer) is always named for the organ in which it originates. In United States, secondary liver cancer is more common than primary liver cancer.
There are two types of liver cancer with hepatocellular carcinoma or hepatoma, the most common type and mostly occurs in men and patients with cirrhosis of the liver.
It usually confines itself to the liver and rarely spreads to other organs. The other type develops in the small bile ducts within the liver and is called bile duct cancer or intrahepatic bile duct cancer, and is more common among women.
Awareness of the causes of liver cancer may help in it’s prevention. Although researchers are unsure about the exact causes of liver cancer, research built up over time has connected the disease with some specific risk factors and issues which include:
. Smoking
. Alcohol Abuse
. Anabolic Steroids
. Exposure to certain chemicals (aflatoxin, vinyl chloride, thorium dioxide, arsenic and radium.
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Patients with hepatitis B and C.
. Cirrhosis of the liver
. Liver flukes (parasites)
. Heriditary defects
. Obesity
. Diabetes.
The most common treatment methods for liver cancer include: surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and other methods which seek to destroy the tumor and cancerous cells directly, without a partial removal of the liver.