Cancer News

by Kristina Collins, The Cancer Blog

Almost 19,000 cases of primary liver cancer will be diagnosed in the United States this year according to The American Cancer Society. This type of cancer is twice as common in men as in women. Over 16,000 patients will die of their liver cancer by the end of 2006.

The liver is responsible for many vital roles in our body. It plays an important role in removing toxic waste, stores many nutrients absorbed from the intestines and can also make some of the clotting factors needed to stop bleeding from an injury. The liver is made up of several different types of cells. The tumors that develop in the liver can either be benign or cancerous. Benign tumors of the liver include hemangioma, hepatic adenomas and focal nodular hyperplasia.

FRIDAY, Oct. 13 (HealthDay News) -- Measuring levels of cells that originate in bone marrow could help doctors predict outcomes for liver cancer patients, researchers say.

Patients with inoperable heptocellular carcinoma (HCC) had higher levels of "endothelial progenitor cells" (EPCs) -- precursors to the endothelial cells that line blood vessels -- compared to patients with liver tumors that could be treated surgically.