A cancer which is preventable in almost half of cases is killing thousands of people in the UK every year. Cancer Research UK figures show around 6,579 people are diagnosed with liver cancer every year - that is roughly 18 every day. Just 8% of people with the disease will survive 10 years or more - that is less than one in 10 - with the disease killing 5,830 every year.
But by taking some simple steps almost half of these cases - 48% - could be prevented. Yet rather than seeing the numbers of people with it fall it has been the opposite. According to the charity the number of people getting the disease in the UK has increased by 42% over the last decade.
And it is now warning there could be 9,700 cases of the cancer being diagnosed every year by 2038-40. Surgical oncologist Joseph Kim, M.D .
at the UK Markey Cancer Center says there are several risk factors associated with developing liver cancer. And he has outlined his six key steps that can be taken to prevent people developing it. Hepatitis B vaccine The hepatitis B virus attacks the liver.
Many infected people don’t experience any symptoms until decades later, when the disease has progressed. It’s often called the “silent epidemic” for this reason. Most people get a vaccine to prevent hepatitis B infection when they’re newborns.
Research has shown that this vaccination lowers the risk of liver cancer in children. It is not known yet if this vaccination also lowers the risk of liver cancer in adults. The vaccin.