A cancer or tumor of the liver is what condition?

A cancer or tumor of the liver is called a hepatoma. In modern medical usage, the term commonly refers to hepatocellular carcinoma, the most common primary malignant tumor of the liver.

Hepatocellular carcinoma begins in hepatocytes, the liver’s main functional cells. It is different from cancer that starts elsewhere and spreads to the liver, which is called metastatic or secondary liver cancer. That distinction matters because the two conditions can have different causes, treatments, and outlooks.

Major risk factors for hepatocellular carcinoma include chronic hepatitis B or C infection, cirrhosis, heavy alcohol use, and some metabolic liver diseases. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and its inflammatory form, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, are increasingly important risk factors as well.

“Hepatoma” is a useful quiz and dictionary term, but clinicians often use the more precise name “hepatocellular carcinoma.” Not every liver tumor is a hepatoma: some are benign, such as hepatic hemangiomas, while other malignant tumors arise from bile-duct cells or spread from another organ.