hepatocellular carcinoma

Primary liver cancer*, which almost always develops as a result of cirrhosis or chronic viral hepatitis B or C, after a period of evolution of two to three decades. The cancer isn’t the result of metastases but, instead, grows locally in the liver, where it eventually causes end-stage decompensation.  The only real curative treatment is a liver transplant.
On a global level, it is one of the most common cancers.

*Primary cancer means that the tumour originates in the liver itself, as opposed to ‘secondary’ cancer, which refers to the metastases in the liver originating from another cancer, which is frequently the case.