85–90% of Primary Liver Cancers Are Hepatocellular Carcinoma, Why Aren’t We Catching It Sooner?

Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) is the most common cause of primary liver cancer. Curative treatments include surgery and transplant, but many patients don't know they have the disease until it's too late. In this week's article, we explore what HCC is, risks and complications of the disease, and what people can do to find out if they have signs of the HCC before it spreads too far.References:Koren, M.J. & Kapila, N. (Hosts). (2025). The liver: Common causes of complications, cirrhosis, and cancer. [Podcast Episode]. In MedEvidence! Truth Behind the Data. MedEvidence. https://www.buzzsprout.com/1926091/episodes/17268919El-Serag, H. B., & Davila, J. A. (2011). Surveillance for HepatoCellular Carcinoma: in whom and how?. Therapeutic advances in gastroenterology, 4(1), 5-10. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1756283X10385964Siegel, R. L., Kratzer, T. B., Giaquinto, A. N., Sung, H., & Jemal, A. (2025). Cancer statistics, 2025. Ca, 75(1), 10. https://acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.3322/caac.21871Benson, A. B., D’Angelica, M. I., Abbott, D. E., Anaya, D. A., Anders, R., Are, C., ... & Darlow, S. D. (2021). Hepatobiliary cancers, version 2.2021, NCCN clinical practice guidelines in oncology. Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, 19(5), 541-565. https://jnccn.org/view/journals/jnccn/19/5/article-p541.xmlHeimbach, J. K., Kulik, L. M., Finn, R. S., Sirlin, C. B., Abecassis, M. M., Roberts, L. R., ... & Marrero, J. A. (2018). AASLD guidelines for the treatment of HepatoCellular Carcinoma. Hepatology, 67(1), 358-380.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28130846/Singal, A. G., Mittal, S., Yerokun, O. A., Ahn, C., Marrero, J. A., Yopp, A. C., ... & Scaglione, S. J. (2017). HepatoCellular Carcinoma screening associated with early tumor detection and improved survival among patients with cirrhosis in the US. The American journal of medicine, 130(9), 1099-1106. https://www.amjmed.com/article/S0002-9343(17)30128-6/fulltextLlovet, J. M., Pinyol, R., Kelley, R. K., El-Khoueiry, A., Reeves, H. L., Wang, X. W., ... & Villanueva, A. (2022). Molecular pathogenesis and systemic therapies for HepatoCellular Carcinoma. Nature cancer, 3(4), 386-401. https://www.nature.com/articles/s43018-022-00357-2Hanahan, D., & Weinberg, R. A. (2000). The hallmarks of cancer. Cell, 100(1), 57-70.https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(00)81683-9Nathani, P., Gopal, P., Rich, N., Yopp, A., Yokoo, T., John, B., ... & Singal, A. G. (2021). HepatoCellular Carcinoma tumour volume doubling time: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Gut, 70(2), 401-407. https://gut.bmj.com/content/70/2/401.abstractShare with a friend. Rate, Review, and Subscribe to MedEvidence! Articles to be notified when new episodes are released.Follow us on Social Media:FacebookInstagramTwitterLinkedInTiktokYoutubeFor more great content, including discussions by physicians and clinical research experts, check out the MedEvidence! Podcast and MedEvidence.comThank you for listening!