National Institutes of Health
- The primary NIH organization for research on Liver Cancer is the National Cancer Institute
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National Institutes of Health
Liver Cancer
Also called: Hepatocellular carcinoma
Your liver is the largest organ inside your body. It filters harmful substances from the blood, makes substances that digest food, and changes food into energy. Primary liver cancer starts in the liver. Metastatic liver cancer starts somewhere else and spreads to your liver.
Risk factors for primary liver cancer include
- Having hepatitis B or C
- Heavy alcohol use
- Having cirrhosis, or scarring of the liver
- Having hemochromatosis, an iron storage disease
- Obesity and diabetes
Symptoms can include a lump or pain on the right side of your abdomen and yellowing of the skin. However, you may not have symptoms until the cancer is advanced. This makes it harder to treat. Doctors use tests that examine the liver and the blood diagnose liver cancer. Treatment options include surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, or liver transplantation.
NIH: National Cancer Institute
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Start Here
- What Is Liver Cancer?(American Cancer Society)
- Also available in Spanish
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What You Need to Know about Liver Cancer(National Cancer Institute)
The top row in the table of contents box contains the following groups:
Basics
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Learn More
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Multimedia & Cool Tools
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For group Basics
For group Learn More
For group Multimedia & Cool Tools
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The bottom row in the table of contents box contains the following groups:
Research
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Reference Shelf
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For You
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For group Research
For group Reference Shelf
For group For You
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Overviews
- Detailed Guide: Liver Cancer(American Cancer Society)
- Liver Cancer(American Liver Foundation)
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Latest News
- Scientists ID Gene Linked to Aggressive Liver Cancer(06/12/2013, HealthDay)
- HIV No Barrier to Getting Liver Transplant, Study Finds(05/17/2013, HealthDay)
- Statins Tied to Lowered Liver Cancer Risk with Hepatitis C(03/21/2013, Reuters Health)
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Diagnosis/Symptoms
- Abdominal exploration - slideshow
- Also available in Spanish
- Abdominal Ultrasound(American College of Radiology, Radiological Society of North America)
- Also available in Spanish
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ERCP (Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography)(National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)
- Also available in Spanish
- How Is Liver Cancer Found?(American Cancer Society)
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Liver Biopsy(National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)
- Also available in Spanish
- Staging of Liver Cancer(American Cancer Society)
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Treatment
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Adult Primary Liver Cancer (PDQ): Treatment(National Cancer Institute)
- Also available in Spanish
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Cryosurgery in Cancer Treatment: Questions and Answers(National Cancer Institute)
- Cryotherapy(American College of Radiology, Radiological Society of North America)
- Also available in Spanish
- How Is Liver Cancer Treated?(American Cancer Society)
- Interventional Radiology Treatments for Liver Cancer(Society of Interventional Radiology)
- Radiation Therapy(CanLiv)
- Radiofrequency Ablation of Liver Tumors(American College of Radiology, Radiological Society of North America)
- Also available in Spanish
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Adult Primary Liver Cancer (PDQ): Treatment
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Prevention/Screening
- Can Liver Cancer Be Prevented?(American Cancer Society)
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Hepatocellular Cancer (PDQ): Screening(National Cancer Institute)
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Liver (Hepatocellular) Cancer (PDQ): Prevention(National Cancer Institute)
- Liver Panel(American Association for Clinical Chemistry)
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Disease Management
- What Happens After Treatment for Liver Cancer?(American Cancer Society)
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Related Issues
- Do We Know What Causes Liver Cancer?(American Cancer Society)
- Know HBV: What Every Asian and Pacific Islander Should Know About Hepatitis B and Liver Cancer(Stanford University, Asian Liver Center) - PDF
- What Should You Ask Your Doctor about Liver Cancer?(American Cancer Society)
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Financial Issues
- Compassionate Allowances(Social Security Administration)
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Clinical Trials
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ClinicalTrials.gov: Carcinoma, Hepatocellular(National Institutes of Health)
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ClinicalTrials.gov: Hepatoblastoma(National Institutes of Health)
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ClinicalTrials.gov: Liver Neoplasms(National Institutes of Health)
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ClinicalTrials.gov: Carcinoma, Hepatocellular
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Research
- What's New in Liver Cancer Research?(American Cancer Society)
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Journal Articles
References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)
- Article: Circulating and intratumoral macrophages in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma: correlation...
- Article: Linking nonalcoholic fatty liver disease to hepatocellular carcinoma: from bedside...
- Article: Liver transplantation for neuroendocrine tumors in Europe-results and trends in...
- Liver Cancer -- see more articles
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Dictionaries/Glossaries
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Dictionary of Cancer Terms(National Cancer Institute)
- Also available in Spanish
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Dictionary of Cancer Terms
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Directories
- Find an Oncologist(American Society of Clinical Oncology)
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Organizations
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Statistics
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Cancer of the Liver and Intrahepatic Bile Duct(National Cancer Institute)
- How Many People Get Liver Cancer?(American Cancer Society)
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Cancer of the Liver and Intrahepatic Bile Duct
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Children
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Childhood Liver Cancer (PDQ): Treatment(National Cancer Institute)
- Also available in Spanish
- Liver Tumors(Nemours Foundation)
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Childhood Liver Cancer (PDQ): Treatment
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Patient Handouts
- Abdominal CT scan
- Also available in Spanish
- Abdominal MRI
- Also available in Spanish
- Abdominal tap
- Also available in Spanish
- After chemotherapy - discharge
- Also available in Spanish
- Biopsy - biliary tract
- Also available in Spanish
- Hepatocellular carcinoma
- Also available in Spanish
- Liver biopsy
- Also available in Spanish
- Liver metastases
- Also available in Spanish
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Understanding Chemotherapy
(National Cancer Institute)
- PDF
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What to Know about External Beam Radiation Therapy(National Cancer Institute)
- PDF
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You may also be interested in these related encyclopedia pages:
MEDICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA
Languages
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- Korean (한국어)
- Laotian (Lao)
- Spanish (español)
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- Vietnamese (Tiếng Việt)
Liver Cancer - Multiple Languages
