Conditions | Secondary Liver Cancer

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Secondary Liver Cancer

For every one patient diagnosed with primary liver cancer in the UK, twenty patients will present with secondary cancers (metastases). Many different primary tumour sites, including the breast, pancreas, stomach, lung, ovary and kidney, can deposit metastases in the liver, since the liver filters blood from throughout the body.

Neuroendocrine tumours, such as carcinoid tumours, may also metastasise to the liver. Up to 50% of liver metastases, however, have spread from primary cancers in the large bowel (colon or rectum). This is because the liver is the first organ to filter blood passing back from the intestines, so trapping cancerous cells that have been shed from the primary bowel cancer. Approximately one third of patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) have metastasis at the time of operation  for removal of the bowel tumour. Another 25% will develop liver metastases after removal of the bowel tumour, due to the growth of initially undetectable deposits.

For colorectal liver metastases surgery it is possible in up to 25% of cases and resectability rates are increasing, due to pre-operative chemotherapy and the use of multi-stage operations, clearing different parts of the liver of cancer at a time. Operability is higher in the case of neuroendocrine cancers, as incomplete removal (debulking) in order to provide symptomatic relief is acceptable, as this cancer generally has a more indolent cause than other liver cancers.

Ablation is a term referring to the local destruction of liver tumours, if resection is not possible due to tumour burden or location. Many different ablative techniques, including percutaneous ethanol injection (PEI), radiofrequency ablation (RFA), high-Intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU), laser therapy, cryotherapy, microwave ablation and electrolysis.

Symptoms

Typically, the first most noticeable signs of Secondary Liver Cancer are:

• unexplained weight loss

• loss of appetite

• feeling sick and vomiting

• pain or swelling in your abdomen

• Jaundice

• itchy skin

It is important however to remember the symptoms above can be caused by many different conditions, and aren’t usually the result of cancer.

 

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