Cancer occurs when normal body cells get damaged and out of control. These damaged cells don’t stop growing. They multiply and spread. They do not die as damaged cells normally do. The cells form a lump, called a cancerous (malignant) tumour. The tumour then grows and damages healthy parts of the body.

The place where the tumour first starts to grow is called the primary site. This information section is mostly about primary liver cancer.

Primary liver cancer is quite rare in the UK, although it is the most common cancerous tumour worldwide. There are several different types, but the main types are:

Hepatoma
Hepatoma, or hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common type of liver cancer. It starts in the main type of liver cells. It usually stays in the liver, but it may spread to other organs. It is mostly found in people with cirrhosis. More than eight in 10 people with primary liver cancer have hepatoma. This is the type of cancer that is covered in these information pages.

There is an even rarer type of hepatoma called fibrolamellar hepatoma which may occur in younger women. It has no known cause.

Cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer)
Cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer) starts in the cells of the bile duct. Just over one in 10 people with primary liver cancer have cholangiocarcinoma.

Rarer types of liver cancer
There are some even rarer types of liver cancer:

• hemangioendothelioma, which is cancer of the blood vessels
• sarcoma and angiosarcoma, which is cancer of the connective tissue in the liver
• hepatoblastoma, which starts in growth cells, and is also an extremely rare type. It usually affects very young children.

Secondary liver cancer
Secondary liver cancer is more common in the UK than primary liver cancer.

If you have been told that you have secondary liver cancer, it has spread from somewhere else in your body. The liver is one of the most likely sites for a secondary cancer to develop. This is because cancer cells can be carried in the blood stream, and blood is filtered through the liver. The most common sites for the cancer to have come from are the bowel, the pancreas, and the stomach, as well as the lung, the breast, the womb, and from the lymph glands.

If you have secondary liver cancer, you should also look at the information for the type of cancer you were originally diagnosed with.