Stages of liver cancer
The stage of liver cancer tells you how big it is and whether it has spread to other parts of the body. This helps your doctor recommend the best treatment for you.
Primary liver cancer is different to cancer that spreads to your liver from somewhere else in your body. This is called secondary liver cancer or liver metastases.
Find out about secondary liver cancer
Doctors use different systems to stage liver cancer. This page is about stage 1 cancer, which is part of the number staging system. This system has 4 stages, stage 1 to stage 4.
This page also tells you what stage 1 means in the TNM system. This system describes:
the size of the primary tumour (T)
whether the cancer has spread to the (N)
whether the cancer has spread to another part of the body (M)
Find out about the TNM staging system for liver cancer
Stage 1 liver cancer has not spread to the lymph nodes or anywhere else in the body. It is divided into stage 1A and stage 1B.
Stage 1A means there is a single tumour in the liver that is 2cm or less, and it has not grown into the blood vessels. This is the same as T1a, N0, M0 in the TNM staging system.
Stage 1B means there is a single tumour that is more than 2cm, and it has not grown into the blood vessels. This is the same as T1b, N0, M0 in the TNM staging system.
The number and TNM staging systems describe the size and position of liver cancer. However, people with liver cancer often have scarring of the liver (cirrhosis). So doctors also need a system that describes how well your liver is working and your health (your performance status). Then they can decide what treatment would be best. For this, doctors use a system called the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) strategy.
The stage of your cancer helps your doctor to decide which treatment you need. Treatment also depends on:
where the cancer is
how well your liver is working
your general health, level of fitness and cancer related symptoms
The treatments for stage 1 include:
You might have an operation to remove part of your liver (liver resection). This depends on the size of the cancer and where it is in the liver. To have this type of surgery the rest of your liver must be working well.
Your doctor may recommend a liver transplant if you have scarring of the liver (cirrhosis) and you are well enough. You may have to wait a long time to receive a transplant. You might have other treatments to help control the cancer while you are on the transplant list.
Embolisation is a treatment that blocks or reduces the blood supply to the cancer.
You might have trans arterial embolisation (TAE) to cut off the blood supply to the cancer. Your doctor does this by injecting a substance such as a gel or tiny beads to block the liver's blood supply.
Some people have chemotherapy directly to the area of your liver that contains the cancer before the blood supply is blocked. This is called chemoembolisation or trans arterial chemoembolisation (TACE).
You usually have this treatment if you can't have surgery, or to help control the cancer while you are waiting for a liver transplant. Or you may have this treatment to shrink a tumour so that it then becomes small enough to remove with surgery.
There are different types of treatment. These include:
radiofrequency ablation (RFA)
microwave ablation (MWA)
stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR)
selective internal radiotherapy treatment (SIRT)
These treatments use heat or radiation to destroy cancer cells. You might have one of these treatments if you can't have surgery, or to help control the cancer while you are waiting for a liver transplant.
This treatment uses alcohol to destroy cancer cells. It is not a common treatment for liver cancer. You might have PEI if you can't have surgery, or to control the cancer while you are waiting for a transplant.
Researchers are always trying to improve the treatment and quality of life for people with liver cancer.
Last reviewed: 25 Mar 2025
Next review due: 24 Mar 2028
The stage of a cancer tells you how big it is and how far it’s spread. It helps your doctor decide which treatment you need.
There are different types of cancer that start in the liver. The most common type is hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
Your treatment for liver cancer depends on the stage of your cancer and how well your liver is working. The most common treatments are surgery, heat treatment, drug treatments and radiotherapy.
There is support available to help you cope with a diagnosis of liver cancer, life during treatment and life after cancer.
Primary liver cancer is cancer that started in the liver. This section is mainly about the most common type of liver cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
Secondary liver cancer is when a cancer that started somewhere else in the body has spread to the liver. It is also called liver metastases.
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