Some research suggests that lifestyle factors, such as alcohol consumption and malnutrition, cause both cirrhosis and liver cancer. Primary liver cancer is difficult to detect at an early stage because its first symptoms are usually vague. As with other types of cancer, this disease can cause a general feeling of poor health. Cancer of the liver can lead to loss of appetite, weight loss, fever, fatigue, and weakness. As the cancer grows, pain may develop in the upper abdomen on the right side and may extend into the back and shoulder.
Some people can feel a mass in the upper abdomen.
Liver cancer can also lead to abdominal swelling and a feeling of fullness or bloating. Some people have episodes of fever and nausea, or develop jaundice, a condition in which the skin and the whites of the eyes become yellow and the urine becomes dark. At a glance Researchers from Imperial College School of Medicine in London published their findings in the journal Gut. They found that 1822 people in England and Wales died from liver tumours in 1996, compared with 967 in 1968. Rates of liver cancer among women rose from 1.29 per 100,000 in 1968 to 1.93 per 100,000 in 1996.