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Liver metastases - Overview

Alternative Names

Metastases to the liver

Definition of Liver metastases:

Liver metastases is cancer that has spread to the liver from somewhere else in the body.

Causes, incidence, and risk factors:

Cancers that may spread to the liver include:

Cancer cells often have aggressive tendencies and will invade other areas of the body. They usually do this by floating in the bloodstream and then multiplying themselves in a new place.

Where and how cancer cells spread varies. It depends both on blood flow and on the characteristics of the different cancer cells. For example, cancers of the GI tract often spread to the liver because their blood drains directly through the liver. Melanoma usually spreads through the body's blood vessels to the liver.

The risk of cancer spreading to the liver depends on the site of the original cancer. The liver cancer may also be present when the original (primary) cancer is diagnosed, or it may occur months or years after the primary tumor is removed.

Liver biopsy

Hepatocellular cancer, CT scan

Liver metastases, CT scan

Digestive system organs

Reviewed last on: 9/4/2008
Sean O. Stitham, MD, private practice in Internal Medicine, Seattle, Washington; and James R. Mason, MD, Oncologist, Director, Blood and Marrow Transplantation Program and Stem Cell Processing Lab, Scripps Clinic, Torrey Pines, California. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

References

Kemeny N, Kemeny M, Dawson L. Liver metastases. In: Abeloff MD, Armitage JO, Niederhuber JE, Kastan MB, McKenna WG, eds. Abeloff's Clinical Oncology. 4th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Churchill Livingstone Elsevier; 2008:chap 59.

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