Liver cancer rates are predicted to rise this year, according to one health charity.
With a 13 per cent survival rate, liver cancer is now the fastest rising cause of cancer death in the UK, with almost nine in 10 cases dying within five years of being diagnosed, according to Liver Cancer UK.
Concerningly, statistics from Liver Cancer UK indicate that case rates are projected to rise by 6 per cent between 2023-2025.
Over the last decade, liver cancer incidence rates in Britain have increased by almost half - 45 percent. Rates in females have increased by almost two-fifths and rates in males have increased by 46 percent.
As with all cancers, early detection means a higher chance of survival, so knowing the warning signs is important. Many of them can easily go unnoticed, or be mistaken for less serious ailments. Here's what you should know.
Liver cancer warning signs
- weight loss
- loss of appetite feeling very full after eating
- feeling and being sick
- pain or swelling in your abdomen
- jaundice
- itchy skin
- feeling very tired and weak
- fever with shivers
- vomiting blood
- dark black “tarry” poo or dark urine
Many of these symptoms do not appear until the cancer is more advanced, and Liver Cancer UK is calling for people with cirrhosis, who are most at risk, to be regularly screened for liver cancer.
Pancreatic cancer was previously known as a silent disease, as its symptoms don't usually appear until late in a diagnosis. But scientists recently discovered two visible warning signs that could lead to an early diagnosis.
Two previously unrecognised pancreatic cancer symptoms are jaundice and excessive thirst.
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