NewsAwareness
Liver Cancer Awareness Month: Understanding a Cancer Closely Tied to the Liver's Health
Every October, Liver Cancer Awareness Month draws attention to a cancer where protecting liver health matters. Here is a calm, NCI-based look at what it is.
A plain-language summary based on public reporting and trusted sources, linked below.
Please note: this page is educational only — it is not medical advice, and it does not speculate about anyone’s health beyond reliable public reporting. For questions about your own health, talk with your healthcare team.
Why the month keeps circling back to hepatitis
October is Liver Cancer Awareness Month. The Hepatitis B Foundation runs its campaign then, and ties it to one plain point: long-term hepatitis B can lead to cirrhosis and to hepatocellular carcinoma, the most common liver cancer.
Most awareness months ask people to notice a disease. This one is narrower. It asks people to find out whether they carry a virus that raises their risk. That can be tested for, and treated.
Two cancers filed under one heading
NCI counts liver cancer together with cancer of the bile ducts inside the liver. They share a set of statistics but are not the same disease.
Hepatocellular carcinoma, or HCC, starts in the main liver cells. It is the common one in adults. NCI says it is the third leading cause of cancer death worldwide.
Intrahepatic bile duct cancer, also called cholangiocarcinoma, starts in the small tubes inside the liver that carry bile. It is rarer, and NCI treats it as a separate disease.
A third group causes confusion. Cancer that starts somewhere else and spreads to the liver is not liver cancer. A tumor that began in the colon and moved to the liver is still colon cancer.
Who carries the risk
NCI's health-professional summary lists these risk factors for HCC:
- Long-term hepatitis B or hepatitis C infection
- Cirrhosis, which is heavy scarring of the liver, from any cause
- Heavy alcohol use
- Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, a form of fatty liver disease with inflammation
- Tobacco use
- Food spoiled by aflatoxin B1, a mold toxin on badly stored grain and nuts
- Some rare inherited conditions, including hemochromatosis and Wilson disease
Two numbers give that list weight. NCI reports that long-term hepatitis B and C account for roughly 30% to 40% of HCC in the United States. And in people who already have cirrhosis, the yearly chance of developing HCC runs between 1% and 6%. Our page on hepatitis and liver cancer covers the testing side in more detail.
Why there is no routine test
There is no recommended screening program for liver cancer in the general public. Based on fair evidence, NCI's screening summary says, screening people at raised risk has not been shown to lower deaths from this cancer.
Some people with cirrhosis or long-term hepatitis are still watched with regular scans. That is a decision made with a liver specialist.
How a spot in the liver gets sorted out
NCI describes a triple-phase scan, meaning a CT or MRI that pictures the liver in separate phases as contrast dye flows through it. HCC brightens in the arterial phase, then fades in the venous phase. NCI says that pattern is 95% to 100% specific for tumors 1 to 3 cm across, and can settle the diagnosis with no biopsy at all.
Small spots under 1 cm found on a surveillance scan usually need no workup. Most turn out to be scar tissue. NCI describes rechecking them every three months.
Alpha-fetoprotein, or AFP, is a blood marker. NCI is clear that it cannot diagnose HCC on its own. A high AFP with a liver mass does not close the question. Where the level is already high, it can help track the disease later.
What treatment turns on
Liver cancer has an unusual feature: the plan rests on two things at once. One is the tumor: its size, how many there are, whether it has reached blood vessels, whether it has spread. The other is how well the rest of the liver still works, scored with the Child-Pugh system.
NCI names both, plus how well a person is functioning day to day. A small tumor in a failing liver and the same tumor in a healthy liver lead to different plans.
For early disease, NCI describes surgery to remove part of the liver, a liver transplant, and ablation, which destroys the tumor with heat, cold, microwaves, or injected alcohol. Only 10% to 23% of people with HCC are candidates for surgery with the aim of cure. When surgery is off the table and the cancer has stayed in the liver, embolization blocks the artery feeding the tumor, sometimes with a drug attached. Our guide to liver cancer stages explains how extent is described.
The survival picture
The American Cancer Society projects 42,340 new US cases of liver and intrahepatic bile duct cancer in 2026, and 30,980 deaths; SEER publishes that projection next to its own measured data. Five-year relative survival across all stages, for cases diagnosed in 2016 through 2022, is 21.9%.
Stage splits that figure hard, across the same 2016 to 2022 diagnoses. Localized disease carries 37.4%. Regional carries 13.4%. Distant carries 3.6%. About 45% of cases are caught while still localized.
These are group averages across thousands of people and past years of care. They do not describe any one reader.
When to get checked
Ask a doctor about liver monitoring if any of this fits:
- You have tested positive for hepatitis B or hepatitis C, or have never been tested and were born where hepatitis B is common
- You have been told you have cirrhosis or heavy liver scarring, whatever the cause
- You have fatty liver disease along with raised liver enzymes on blood tests
NCI lists these as reasons to check with a doctor:
- A hard lump on the right side just below the rib cage
- Discomfort in the upper right abdomen, or a swollen abdomen
- Pain near the right shoulder blade or in the back
- Jaundice, meaning yellowing of the skin and the whites of the eyes
- Losing weight for no clear reason, or feeling full after a small meal
Hepatitis B vaccination is the one step that removes a cause instead of watching for it. Our page on hepatitis B vaccination covers who it is for.
What this does not mean
- An awareness month is not a screening program. No group recommends liver cancer screening for people at average risk.
- The symptom list above is not specific. Most people with these symptoms do not have liver cancer.
- The 21.9% figure is an all-stages average from past years. It is not a forecast for anyone.
Sources
- SEER Cancer Stat Facts, Liver and Intrahepatic Bile Duct Cancer — https://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/livibd.html
- NCI PDQ, Adult Primary Liver Cancer Treatment (Health Professional Version) — https://www.cancer.gov/types/liver/hp/adult-liver-treatment-pdq
- NCI PDQ, Liver (Hepatocellular) Cancer Screening (Health Professional Version) — https://www.cancer.gov/types/liver/hp/liver-screening-pdq
- NCI, What Is Liver Cancer? — https://www.cancer.gov/types/liver/what-is-liver-cancer
- NCI PDQ, Adult Primary Liver Cancer Treatment (Patient Version) — https://www.cancer.gov/types/liver/patient/adult-liver-treatment-pdq
- Hepatitis B Foundation, Liver Cancer Awareness Month — https://www.hepb.org/resources-and-support/liver-cancer-awareness-month/
How this article was prepared
An AI-assisted editorial system helped prepare this page. No named medical reviewer has reviewed it unless one is listed.
The National Cancer Information Foundation publishes Cancer Explained. This page is for learning. It is not medical advice and does not suggest a test or treatment.
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Put the story in context
Prevention, possible warning signs, screening, and diagnosis
This story relates to Liver cancer. The information below is general: it does not reveal anything else about a public person’s health, and not every point applies to every cancer. Personal advice depends on age, symptoms, family history, exposures, and medical history.
Prevention and risk reduction
Not every cancer can be prevented. Avoiding tobacco, protecting skin from ultraviolet radiation, limiting alcohol, staying active, and receiving recommended HPV or hepatitis B vaccination can lower the risk of certain cancers. A risk factor is not a prediction or a cause in one individual.
Symptoms and possible early signs
Possible signs vary and are often caused by conditions other than cancer. Changes worth discussing include a new lump, unexplained bleeding or weight loss, a persistent cough, lasting bowel or bladder changes, a changing skin spot, or symptoms that persist or worsen. Some early cancers cause no symptoms.
Screening and early detection
Screening looks for certain cancers before symptoms begin. Recommended tests exist only for some cancers and depend on age and risk. Screening can have benefits and harms; it is not the same as evaluating a new symptom, and there is no single routine scan or blood test that reliably screens for every cancer.
How cancer is diagnosed
Diagnosis may involve a history and exam, imaging, laboratory tests, and often a biopsy. Pathology can identify the cancer type and may test biomarkers that guide treatment. Symptoms, screening results, tumor markers, or online stories alone cannot confirm cancer.
Learn about this story’s cancer topic
A public story may encourage questions, but it should not be used to estimate your risk or choose testing. Contact a healthcare professional about a persistent or concerning change. Seek urgent care for severe or rapidly worsening symptoms.