Hepatocellular carcinoma
Ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111 if
- Ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111 if your skin or the whites of your eyes turn yellow, or if you have been being sick for more than 2 days.
Liver cancer is a cancer found anywhere in the liver. It can start in the liver. That is called primary liver cancer. It can also spread there from another organ, which is called secondary.
Liver cancer may not have any symptoms, or they might be hard to spot. One symptom is the whites of the eyes or the skin turning yellow, which may be less obvious on brown or black skin. This is called jaundice.
Where this came from
Symptoms of liver cancer, 'Main symptoms', opening sentence and first bullet · status: current, verified 2026-09-01
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Liver cancer may not have any symptoms, or they might be hard to spot. Symptoms of liver cancer can include: the whites of your eyes turning yellow or your skin turning yellow, which may be less obvious on brown or black skin (jaundice)
Other symptoms can be losing your appetite, or losing weight without trying to. You may feel tired or have no energy. You may feel generally unwell, or have symptoms like flu. There may be a lump in the right side of your tummy.
Where this came from
Symptoms of liver cancer, 'Main symptoms', bullets 2 to 5 · status: current, verified 2026-09-01
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loss of appetite or losing weight without trying to; feeling tired or having no energy; feeling generally unwell or having symptoms like flu; a lump in the right side of your tummy
See a GP if you have a lump in your tummy, have lost a lot of weight without trying, or have symptoms that get worse or do not get better after 2 weeks.
Where this came from
Symptoms of liver cancer, 'Non-urgent advice' callout box · status: current, verified 2026-09-01
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See a GP if you have: a lump in your tummy; lost a lot of weight without trying; symptoms of liver cancer that get worse or do not get better after 2 weeks
Cirrhosis, which damages the liver, is one of the main risk factors for liver cancer.
Where this came from
Liver cancer, risk factors section · status: current, verified 2026-09-01
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A condition called cirrhosis, which damages the liver, is one of the main risk factors.
You might be more likely to get liver cancer if you are over 60, or are a man. Some medical conditions raise the risk too. These include hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, gallstones, diabetes, a parasite in the liver, and HIV. So does having a brother, sister or parent who had primary liver cancer.
Where this came from
Causes of liver cancer, 'Who is more likely to get liver cancer', bulleted list · status: current, verified 2026-09-01
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are over 60 – it's most common in people over 85; are a man; have certain medical conditions, such as hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, gallstones, diabetes, a parasite in the liver (liver flukes) or HIV; have a brother, sister or parent who had primary liver cancer
If a GP refers you to a specialist, you will need tests and scans. These can include blood tests. They can include scans, such as an ultrasound, CT or MRI scan. They can also include taking a small sample of cells from the liver to be checked for cancer. That is called a biopsy.
Where this came from
Tests and next steps for liver cancer, 'Main tests for liver cancer' · status: current, verified 2026-09-01
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You will need tests and scans to check for liver cancer if the GP refers you to a specialist. These tests can include: blood tests; scans, like an ultrasound scan, CT scan or MRI scan; collecting a small sample of cells from the liver (called a biopsy), to be checked for cancer
The treatment you have will depend on several things. Whether the cancer started in the liver or spread there. The size and type of cancer, and where it is. Whether it has spread. And your general health.
Where this came from
Treatment for liver cancer, 'Main treatments for liver cancer', bulleted list · status: current, verified 2026-09-01
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The treatment you have will depend on: if the cancer started in the liver (primary) or spread from somewhere else (secondary), but treatments for primary and secondary liver cancer are similar; the size and type of liver cancer you have; where it is; if it has spread; your general health
Surgery and some other treatments also depend on how well the healthy parts of the liver are working.
Where this came from
Liver cancer, treatment section, sentence following the list of what treatment depends on · status: current, verified 2026-09-01
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Surgery and some other treatments also depend on how well the healthy parts of the liver are working.
Related
- Cirrhosis — can arise as a complication of
- Alcohol-related liver disease — related through cirrhosis
- Ascites — related through cirrhosis
- Hepatic encephalopathy — related through cirrhosis
- AAV vectors — related through cirrhosis
- HCC surveillance — related through cirrhosis
What we have not established
Relationships involving Hepatocellular carcinoma that we have not evidenced are listed, never drawn — a line would read as a weak relationship, which is a different and false claim.
- Hepatocellular carcinoma → BCLC staging — not established
- Hepatocellular carcinoma → Hepatic functional reserve — not established
Evidence search date: 2026-09-01
Content reviewed and approved
What we have not established here
Known gaps on this concept:
NOT A TREATMENT PAGE, and it says so. Transarterial chemoembolisation is entirely absent from the ledger, which leaves a gap between ablation and systemic therapy; ablation is held with no eligible population; and the NICE drug appraisals are held without their commercial-arrangement conditions. Publishing any of those would name a therapy without its eligible population, which the Phase 15 acceptance criteria forbid.
NO STAGING SYSTEM. The page states that TNM omits liver function and does not state what replaces it. BCLC is used operationally by NHSBT POL195 and named by the BSG guideline, and no sourced definition of it is held. It must not be reconstructed.
NO TRANSPLANT LISTING CRITERIA. NHSBT's UK HCC listing criteria were acquired and verified in Phase 15 and are deliberately not rendered: criteria published without their consequences read as promises, and the down-staging route depends on a Duvoux score this platform must not reconstruct. They are backlog for a transplantation concept, not for this one.
NO PROGNOSIS OF ANY KIND, by design. CLM-HCC-0012 - that underlying liver dysfunction may limit life expectancy more than the cancer - is a population statement from a clinical guideline and is deliberately NOT rendered at plain resolution.
No specialist or research resolution.
Surveillance is held in the ledger (NICE NG50, and EASL) and is rendered on the cirrhosis and surveillance concepts rather than here.
What has changed here
2026-09-01 — Concept created at plain and clinical resolutions, scoped to how liver function gates treatment.
Phase 15. The Winning-Element Matrix had asserted since Phase 13 that the routine view of a cancer shows the cancer and hides the organ. This phase was required either to evidence that from a UK source or to withdraw it. The BSG 2024 guideline and NHS inform evidence it at clinical and plain depth respectively.