Hepatocellular carcinoma is the most common type of liver cancer, which itself is one of the most common cancers in the world. Around 85% of people with liver cancer have hepatocellular carcinoma, which gets its name from the type of liver cells that it develops from - called hepatocytes. It is sometimes abbreviated to HCC, or referred to as hepatoma.
Is hepatocellular carcinoma curable?
If it is diagnosed early enough, it can sometimes be completely removed with surgery. Unfortunately though, liver cancers grow quickly, and once the cancer has spread to other parts of the body it becomes much harder to treat. Often patients are not diagnosed until HCC is at an advanced stage, meaning there are limited treatment options and it is harder to cure.
Why are rates of hepatocellular carcinoma increasing?
Worryingly, HCC is one of the fastest growing causes of cancer death worldwide. Although it is tricky to unpick exactly why this is happening, research suggests unhealthy lifestyles and factors including obesity, alcohol and smoking play a key role.
Hepatitis, a viral infection that affects the liver, can also cause HCC - and cases of both hepatitis B and hepatitis C are increasing around the world.
How is hepatocellular carcinoma different from secondary liver cancer?
Hepatocellular carcinoma is a type of primary liver cancer, meaning it develops from cells in the liver. There are a few different types of primary liver cancer, but HCC is the most common.
Secondary liver cancer is when a cancer in another part of the body spreads to the liver. Any type of cancer could potentially spread to the liver but some of the most common ones to do this are breast cancer, bowel cancer, lung cancer and pancreatic cancer.
How does hepatocellular carcinoma develop?
Your liver is found underneath your right rib cage. It is your largest internal organ and does hundreds of important jobs for your body everyday, including helping to digest food and produce energy.
Hepatocellular carcinoma develops in cells in the liver called hepatocytes. These cells become cancerous when damage to the liver causes mutations in their DNA. HCC often develops in people with liver cirrhosis, a condition where your liver becomes scarred and permanently damaged.
What causes hepatocellular carcinoma?
We do not yet fully understand the exact cause of hepatocellular carcinoma, but there are certain risk factors that can increase your chance of developing it. Experts believe that 3 in 5 cases of HCC worldwide could be prevented by lifestyle changes and hepatitis vaccinations.
- Sex: HCC is more common in men than women.
- Age: Most people diagnosed with HCC are over 65 although rates in younger people are also rising.
- Hepatitis: Long-term infection from the hepatitis B or hepatitis C virus can increase the risk of cirrhosis and consequently HCC.
- Cirrhosis: This condition damages and scars the liver. Alcohol is one of the leading causes of cirrhosis but it can also be caused by other conditions including non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
- Other medical conditions: Some rare inherited conditions can increase your risk of liver cancer. HIV or AIDS can also increase your risk.
- Smoking: People who smoke have a higher risk of developing HCC.
What are the symptoms of hepatocellular carcinoma?
It can be hard to spot liver cancer, especially since some of the symptoms overlap with those of other liver conditions. These symptoms include:
- Loss of appetite
- Feeling full soon after starting eating
- Unexplained weight loss
- Feeling or being sick
- Tiredness
- Jaundice, when the skin and whites of the eyes appear yellow
- A lump or pain in the right side of your tummy
Detecting HCC early makes it much easier to cure, so if you are worried about any of these symptoms please consult your doctor.
How is hepatocellular carcinoma diagnosed?
If you have symptoms of liver cancer, your doctor is likely to carry out a variety of tests to explore what is happening. These can include:
- Blood tests to discover how well your liver is working.
- Ultrasound scan to spot any abnormal growths.
- CT scans to create a 3D picture of the inside of your body.
- MRI scans - powerful imaging that can see if there is any cancer and if so what size.
- Liver biopsy - where a sample of your liver is taken and examined under a microscope.
How is hepatocellular carcinoma treated?
Treatment for HCC varies depending on the stage of the cancer and the health of your liver. Advanced liver cancer can be very hard to cure, but treatments can help limit the cancer and its symptoms. The main treatments used are:
- Surgery: Liver resection is an operation to remove part of the liver.
- Liver transplant: People with liver cirrhosis usually cannot have a liver resection, but in some cases they are able to receive a liver transplant from a donor.
- Embolisation treatment: A treatment that works by blocking the blood supply to the cancer, sometimes used for patients that can’t have surgery or to control the cancer while they wait for a transplant. It is sometimes combined with chemotherapy.
- Heat treatment: Also called thermal ablation, this uses heat to destroy cancer cells.
- Radiotherapy: This treatment uses radiation to kill cancer cells.
- Immunotherapy: Drugs that help your immune system attack cancer.
Why can hepatocellular carcinoma be difficult to treat?
One of the challenges with HCC is that it often goes undetected and is only spotted once it has spread to other parts of the body. Like a lot of cancers, HCC is much harder to treat if it is not caught early on.
Often HCC develops in patients with existing liver damage or cirrhosis and this can make it harder for treatments to work. HCC is also sometimes resistant to common cancer treatments including chemotherapy, meaning therapies don’t work well for all patients.
More research is urgently needed to find new cures for people with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma. As a cancer research charity, we are proud to support research into any cancer type including hepatocellular carcinoma.
How are Curestarters finding new cures?
With rates of HCC on the rise, we need new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat this deadly cancer.
The more we understand about HCC, the more we can stop it in its tracks. That’s why we fund discovery research - the vital first stage in the research journey that aims to uncover answers to the biggest questions we have about cancer.
And there are a lot of unanswered questions about liver cancer and hepatocellular carcinoma. From “Why do some people with liver disease go on to develop liver cancer?” to “Does liver cancer have a weak spot which could be a new drug target?” and "Can regenerative cancer therapy be a new cure for liver cancer?"
Thanks to Curestarters, our researchers are hard at work trying to answer them, so that we can reach a day where no life is cut short by this devastating disease.
Your hepatocellular carcinoma FAQs:
Is hepatocellular carcinoma the same as liver cancer?
Hepatocellular carcinoma (or HCC) is the most common type of liver cancer. It is sometimes also called hepatoma. There are a few other types of liver cancer but around 85% of liver cancer patients worldwide have HCC.
Is hepatocellular carcinoma linked to hepatitis?
Yes, chronic hepatitis B and hepatitis C are both risk factors for hepatocellular carcinoma.
How does cirrhosis increase liver cancer risk?
Cirrhosis is a condition where the liver is severely damaged and scarred. It causes inflammation and mutations in liver cells that make it more likely that liver cancer will develop.
Can hepatocellular carcinoma spread to other organs?
Yes, hepatocellular carcinoma can grow and spread quickly. It starts in the liver but can spread to the lymph nodes, bones, adrenal glands, lungs and other parts of the body.
What research is being done into hepatocellular carcinoma?
International cancer research is helping find new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat hepatocellular carcinoma. Thanks to you, Dr Fulvio Chiacchiera and his team in Italy are studying why liver tumours are more likely to develop when a protein called BAP1 is mutated. In Spain Professor Raul Mendez aims to better understand how a cellular “master regulator” impacts the development of liver cancer and how this might be targeted for treatment. This vital research will pave the way to vital new cures.
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