Liver cancer is cancer that begins in the cells of your liver. It is a condition that makes the normal cells in the liver become abnormal both in appearance and behavior. It is one of the few cancers that is more associated with both human gender i.e. male and female yet more common among men.

The liver is a football-sized organ that sits in the upper right portion of your abdomen, beneath the diaphragm and above the stomach. The liver's main job is to filter the blood coming from the digestive tract, before passing it to the rest of the body. The liver also detoxifies chemicals and metabolizes drugs. As it does so, the liver secretes bile that ends up back in the intestines. The liver also makes proteins important for blood clotting and other functions.

The liver is made up of several different types of cells, thus making it easy for several types of tumors to form from there. Some of these tumors are benign (noncancerous), while others are cancerous.

The common benign tumors of liver include:

• Hemangioma
• Hepatic adenoma
• Focal nodular hyperplasia
• Cysts
• Lipoma
• Fibroma
• Leiomyoma

None of these tumors are treated like liver cancer. They may need to be removed surgically if they cause pain or bleeding.

Most liver cancer does not usually originate from the liver itself, but rather are usually metastatic cancers (secondary cancer) that originate from cancers from other part of the human body. That is, cancer that spreads to the liver is more common than cancer that begins in the liver cells.

Here, it can be defined that liver cancer has two forms of definitions, which include the primary liver cancer and the secondary (metastatic) liver cancer.

1. Primary Liver Cancer: This is a condition in which normal cells that makes the liver function properly begin to grow and work abnormally. These cancerous cells in the liver can become destructive to the normal cells, and thus spread to other areas of the liver and also to organs outside the liver. This type of liver cancer can also be referred to as ‘Hepatic Cancer’.

Cancerous or malign cells that grow and develop in the normal cells of the liver (hepatocytes) are referred to as ‘Hepatocellular carcinoma’. Also, a cancer that arises in the ducts of the liver is called cholangiocarcinoma.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third-most common cause of cancer mortality and the sixth most common cancer worldwide. It is the most common primary liver cancer, with its incidence rising globally.

Hepatocellular carcinoma usually occurs among people with chronic liver disease, such as cirrhosis (which is caused by hepatitis B and C infection). It is more common in people who drink large amounts of alcohol and who have an accumulation of fat in the liver.

2. Metastatic Liver Cancer: Metastatic liver cancer is a rare condition that occurs when cancer originates in the liver (primary) and spreads to other organs (secondary) in the body i.e. spreading from the place where it first started to another place in the body. Metastatic cancer in the liver is a condition in which cancer from other organs has spread through the bloodstream to the liver. Here the liver cells are not what have become cancerous. The liver has become the part of the body to which the cancer that started elsewhere has spread. Metastatic cancer has the same name and same type of cancer cells as the original cancer. The most common cancers that spread to the liver are breast, colon, bladder, kidney, ovary, pancreas, stomach, uterus, and lungs.

Some people with metastatic tumors do not have symptoms. Their metastases are found by X-rays, CT scans, ultrasounds, or other tests. Enlargement of the liver or jaundice (yellowing of the skin) can indicate cancer has spread to the liver.

Liver Cancer in Nigeria

Nigeria is the most populous Black Country in World yet, irrespective of its rich deposit of oil and other mineral resources, the health sector is one of the worst in the world. It is inability to properly equip its hospitals with modern infrastructures and equipments has caused lots of death among its citizen.

Liver cancer is one of the most common types of disease in Nigeria, owing to the high prevalence of Hepatitis B and C, and the solution for end-stage liver disease is difficult, since endoscopic services are not widespread. The problem of this viral hepatitis in Nigeria is quite difficult to quantify due to its insufficient demographic data and lack of sound scientific research.

In Nigeria, Liver Cancer caused by HCC exhibits a male preponderance; with a peak age of onset 5 years earlier than women. This is thought to be due to higher rates of risk factors in men, including viral hepatitis, high alcohol intake and obesity. Testosterone levels have also been linked to HCC development. Other risk factors for HCC development include any disease leading to cirrhosis, such as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), alcoholic liver disease (ALD) and metabolic disorders. Aflatoxin exposure and smoking are the more general risk factors.

According to the World Health Data published in 2017, Liver cancer deaths in Nigeria had reached 12,765 which is 0.63% of the total deaths from Liver cancer worldwide. The age adjusted death rate is 13.01 per 100,000 of its total population which ranks Nigeria at number 23 in the world.

[Next: How to Prevent Liver Cancer]