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Article: Liver Cancer
- Article from:
- Gale Encyclopedia of Cancer
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Liver cancer
Definition
Liver cancer is a form of cancer with a high mortality rate. Liver cancers can be classified into two types. They are either primary, when the cancer starts in the liver itself, or metastatic, when the cancer has spread to the liver from some other part of the body.
Description and demographics
Primary liver cancer
Primary liver cancer is a relatively rare disease in the United States, representing about 2% of all malignancies and 4% of newly diagnosed cancers. Hepatocellular
carcinoma
(HCC) is one of the top eight most common cancers in the world. It is, however, much more common outside the United States, representing 10% to 50% of malignancies in Africa ...