We don't know the answer at the moment. Better diagnostic techniques could explain some of the increase but scientists believe other factors such as smoking, alcohol, pollutants, chemicals, pesticides or thorotrast, a substance widely used until the 1950s, could also be responsible. Thorotrast was developed in the 1920s and used in X-rays until it was banned when doctors discovered that it emitted particle radiation in organs such as the liver, spleen, ovaries and testes that remained in the body for life. Patients given the treatment developed liver and bone cancers and leukemia and their children also had higher rates of cancer than other youngsters. Taylor-Robinson and his colleagues called for more research and epidemiological studies to pinpoint clusters of the disease which could hold clues about its cause.
Liver cancer is one of the most deadly forms of the disease.
Unless it is caught early it is inoperable and it does not respond to chemotherapy or radiation therapy. It is still a very rare tumor. But he warned that unless the cause for the increase is found, deaths from the disease will continue to rise. Taylor-Robinson and his colleagues spotted the increase by analyzing national statistics and deaths caused by liver tumors in England and Wales over 30 years. They compared the number due to liver cancer and the projected number of cases.