Liver Cancer Rates Continue to Increase – What You Need to Know

Liver cancer is now the fastest-rising cause of U.S. cancer deaths, a recent study shows. Since the mid-1980s, death rates from liver cancer have doubled. An estimated 41,000 new cases and 29,000 liver-cancer deaths are expected in 2017, the recent study notes. “Liver cancer does not have a good prognosis,” says Dr. Farhad Islami, strategic director of cancer surveillance research for the American Cancer Society and lead author of the study published June 6 in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. “But the good thing is that most cases can be prevented.” – Source: AOL/USNews

• Get screened for Hepatitis C. People at higher risk for liver cancer, such as baby boomers, health care workers and injectable drug users, should be screened for HCV.
• Maintain a normal body weight and keep diabetes under control.
• Fatty liver disease, which is also on the rise, increases cancer risk as well. Screening guidelines for HCV
• Ask your doctor about vaccinating for Hepatitis B or check immunity if vaccinated for HBV

Study Abstract

Disparities in liver cancer occurrence in the United States by race/ethnicity and state