Why liver cancer rates have doubled in two decades
Share:
Deaths from liver cancer are projected to increase by a further 10 per cent by 2040, but a charity says half of all cases could be prevented. The number of people dying from liver cancer has nearly doubled in the past two decades and is projected to keep rising, new analysis shows, despite around half of cases being preventable.
![[Liver cancer kills 58,00 people in the UK each year, nearly twice the rate of the late 1990s]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/11/27/22/iStock-989387872.jpg)
Liver cancer kills 58,00 people in the UK each year, nearly twice the rate of the late 1990s when that form of cancer killed 2,200 people a year, according to analysis by Cancer Research UK. Those death rates are projected to increase by a further 10 per cent by 2040 - and the charity warned in the 15 years to then, liver cancer will have killed about 135,000 people.
![[Lifestyle factors including obesity and smoking are key contributors to liver cancer]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/10/20/14/Convenience_Store_Food_75098.jpg)
Katrina Brown, senior statistics manager at Cancer Research UK, said there are several factors in the rise of liver cancer deaths. It’s partly been driven by an increasing British population, which means more liver cancer diagnoses and deaths. “There are more people here to get cancer,” she said. “But there is a genuine increase in your risk of getting liver cancer.”.
Lifestyle factors play a major role and about half of all cases are preventable, Ms Brown said. Drinking alcohol or smoking are drivers, and a key factor is being overweight or obese. “The notable thing for liver cancer is overweight and obesity is a key risk factor, and that has been steadily increasing in the UK - around two-thirds of UK adults are overweight and obese,” she said.
