Liver cancers

Primary liver cancer is cancer that starts in the liver. There are several different types, including:

  • Cancer of the liver itself, which is medically called hepatoma or hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Our information refers to this as liver cancer. It is the most common type, seen in nine out of 10 cases.
  • Biliary tree cancer, which includes cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer) and gallbladder cancer.
  • Fibrolamellar, a rare form of liver cancer that affects teenagers and young adults who have no history of liver disease.
  • Angioscarcoma, a cancer of the inner lining of blood vessels, which may occur in the liver.

People with primary cancers which have started elsewhere in the body can  develop secondary cancer in their liver. This type of liver cancer is not the same as that which has originated in the liver cells.

It is made up of the same cells as the primary cancer that it spread from. And it is more similar to the primary cancer than to a cancer that started in the liver (primary liver cancer).

For more information about secondary liver cancer visit Macmillan Cancer Support or Cancer Research UK.