Also called: Hepatocellular carcinoma
Important: This page is general information, not medical advice. It does not recommend or prescribe any treatment. Always consult your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.
About Liver Cancer
Your liver is the largest organ inside your body. It helps your body digest food, store energy, and remove poisons. 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 to diagnose liver cancer. Treatment options include surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, or liver transplantation.
It sits within Cancers and Digestive System.
The lead U.S. institute for this subject is the National Cancer Institute.
When to speak to someone. Reading about a topic cannot tell you whether it applies to you. Speak to a doctor or pharmacist if symptoms are severe, sudden, getting worse, or simply not going away — and seek emergency care immediately for chest pain, breathing difficulty, sudden weakness or confusion, or a serious allergic reaction.
Research on Liver Cancer
5,386 studies areregistered for this condition on ClinicalTrials.gov, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's public registry. A selection is below — the links go straight to the registry entry, not to a summary of ours.
What a registered study does and does not mean. Registration means a study exists and has been declared publicly. It says nothing about whether the treatment being tested works, is safe, or is available to you. Many studies find no benefit — that is what research is for. Never seek out an experimental treatment on the strength of a registry entry alone.
Research currently under way
- Targeted Therapy Directed by Genetic Testing in Treating Patients With Advanced Refractory Solid Tumors, Lymphomas, or Multiple Myeloma (The MATCH Screening Trial)National Cancer Institute (NCI)
- A Study of Nofazinlimab (CS1003) in Subjects With Advanced Hepatocellular CarcinomaCStone Pharmaceuticals
- Managing Hepatitis B (Hep. B) and Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) Related Cancers and Mental Health.Eunice Dube
- Biomarker Panel for PCOS-Associated Liver Steatosis in Adolescent Girls (COMPASS-pedPCOS)Kayseri City Hospital
- The Cancer Connected Access and Remote Expertise Beyond Walls Program to Provide In-Home Cancer Treatment and Improve Treatment Satisfaction in Cancer Patients Living in the Florida Panhandle and Surrounding AreasMayo Clinic
- Phase I/II Randomized Study of NBTXR3 Activated by Abscopal or RadScopal Radiation in Combination With Immunotherapy (Anti-PD-1/L-1) for Patients With Advanced Solid MalignanciesM.D. Anderson Cancer Center
Study data from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2026-07-30. Registry entries are supplied by study sponsors and investigators; ClinicalTrials.gov does not verify their scientific validity. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH.
Where to read more
Rather than paraphrase, we point you to the primary sources. Every link below is to a government health agency, a national institute or a recognised medical body — grouped by what you are trying to find out.
Diagnosis and Tests
- Abdominal exploration - seriesMedical Encyclopedia
- Abdominal UltrasoundRadiological Society of North America
- Alpha Fetoprotein (AFP) Tumor Marker TestNational Library of Medicine
- CEA TestNational Library of Medicine
- Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography (ERCP)National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
- Liver BiopsyNational Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
- Liver Cancer DiagnosisNational Cancer Institute
- Liver Cancer ScreeningNational Cancer Institute
- Liver Function TestsNational Library of Medicine
Treatments and Therapies
- Cryosurgery to Treat CancerNational Cancer Institute
- Drugs Approved for Liver CancerNational Cancer Institute
- Liver Cancer TreatmentNational Cancer Institute
- Liver Transplantation: MedlinePlus Health TopicNational Library of Medicine
Prevention and Risk Factors
- Can Liver Cancer Be Found Early?American Cancer Society
- Liver Cancer Causes, Risk Factors, and PreventionNational Cancer Institute
Living With
- Living as a Liver Cancer SurvivorAmerican Cancer Society
Related Issues
- Know HBV: What Every Asian and Pacific Islander Should Know About Hepatitis B and Liver CancerAsian Liver Center at Stanford University
Statistics and Research
- Advances in Liver Cancer ResearchNational Cancer Institute
- Cancer Stat Facts: Liver and Intrahepatic Bile Duct CancerNational Cancer Institute
- Key Statistics about Liver CancerAmerican Cancer Society
- Liver Cancer Survical RatesAmerican Cancer Society
Clinical Trials
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Carcinoma, HepatocellularNational Institutes of Health
- ClinicalTrials.gov: HepatoblastomaNational Institutes of Health
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Liver NeoplasmsNational Institutes of Health
Medical subject headings
Clinicians and researchers index this subject under Liver Neoplasms. These are the terms to use when searching medical literature.
This page is built from the MedlinePlus health topic record for Liver Cancer, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health. Information is from MedlinePlus.gov. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and is not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH. Retrieved 30 July 2026.