Liver Cancer: Prognosis and Survival Rates

Liver cancer is one of the deadliest cancers in the world: It’s estimated that more than 700,000 people die from the disease each year. In the United States alone, over 20,000 men and over 9,000 women will lose their lives to liver cancer in 2021. The incidence of liver cancer has also tripled in the past three decades, with the number of deaths from the disease doubling in that time.

Although this may sound alarming to those who have been diagnosed with liver cancer, survival rates are average and vary from person to person depending on a variety of factors. Receiving the right treatment could help someone with liver cancer live a long and full life.

Staging

The stage of liver cancer depends on whether it has spread from the liver to other organs or nearby lymph nodes. Staging also depends on how much cancer is in the body.

Determining what stage your cancer is at will help your doctor decide the severity of your condition and treatment. The stages can also be used to determine survival rates. That's because cancers with similar stages tend to have a similar outlook and are often treated in much the same way.

Liver cancer stages range from stage 1 to 4. The lower the number, the less the cancer has spread.

The system most often used to determine stages in the United States is the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) TNM system. TNM stands for:

• T: The extent and size of the tumor. Doctors will look at how large the cancer growth is, how many growths there are, and if it has reached the surrounding structures of the liver.
• N: Whether it has spread to the nearby lymph nodes.
• M: Whether the liver cancer is metastasizing, or spreading to sites outside of the liver such as the bones or lungs.

The severity of the cancer is taken into account when using the TNM system, and each letter is typically followed by another letter or number that provides more details on the specific factors. A higher number means the cancer is more advanced. This then leads to a process known as stage grouping, where the letters and numbers are combined to determine a final stage.

Using this staging system, liver cancer can be categorized into seven stages.

Prognosis

The SEER database is used to keep track of different survival rates, but their staging system is slightly different. SEER stages cancers by three different characteristics: localized, regional, and distant.

Stages IA, IB, II, and IIIA in the TNM system can be classified as localized since there has been no spread to the lymph nodes or other organs. Stages IIIB and IVA are categorized as regional because it has spread to structures outside of the liver, such as veins, but not to distant sites. Finally, stage IVB falls under the category of distant because the cancer has spread to other parts of the body.

The relative five-year survival rate for liver cancer is 19.6%, but that rate can differ by stage. When that is broken down into stages, the number can change drastically. This is because when liver cancer is caught early, the survival outlook is much higher than if it is caught in its latest stages. The survival rates for liver cancer by stage are as follows.

Liver Cancer Demographics

Prognosis will also depend on other factors such as sex, race, or geographical location. For example, men have a higher incidence and death rate when it comes to liver cancer compared with women. Those of Asian or Pacific Islander descent also have the highest incidence among all races, with those of European, Middle Eastern American, or North African American ethnicity seeing the lowest incidence.

When it comes to geographical location, liver cancer is much more common in Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa compared with the United States. Age is also a factor when looking at liver cancer incidence. Men over the age of 65 and women over the age of 75 are at highest risk of liver cancer.

Coping

When dealing with a liver cancer diagnosis, one important thing to take into consideration is the stage at which you are diagnosed. At the earliest stage of liver cancer, the prognosis is significantly better than that at any other stage.

Other factors that should be taken into consideration are how healthy your liver is otherwise, how well you do day-to-day activities, and how many tumors you have. People with more than one tumor may have a less favorable prognosis than those with only one localized tumor.

For people who are living with late-stage liver cancer, prognosis and outlook may not be as positive as those with stage I or stage II liver cancer. However, it's important to find support and maintain a positive mindset during treatment.

Joining a support group may help you cope with the emotional turmoil that is inevitable when dealing with later-stage liver cancer. The American Cancer Society website has a directory of cancer support groups to help you find one in your area.

Advanced-stage liver cancer is likely to be treated with immunotherapy, radiation therapy, or targeted therapy. New therapies are being developed that may also help increase the efficacy of current treatments.

A Word From Verywell

Being told that you have liver cancer can change your entire world. The initial shock will settle eventually, and when you begin looking at the big picture, dealing with the diagnosis will seem a lot easier. It's helpful to remember that the survival rate for liver cancer is average, and that many people with this type of cancer still live happy and fulfilling lives.

Take things one day at a time, and learn everything there is to know about liver cancer, prognosis, and what you can do to feel good while going through treatment. Liver cancer is a difficult thing to deal with, but with the right treatment, support, and outlook, you can handle your diagnosis with ease.