Unhealthy lifestyles fuel a 50 per cent rise in UK deaths from liver cancer

Britain's obesity epidemic has fuelled a 50 per cent rise in deaths from liver cancer in just a decade, new figures show.

The statistics reveal a record 5,700 such deaths a year, with figures tripling since the 1970s, as a result of increasingly unhealthy lifestyles.

Cancer experts said the figures were "alarming" and should be seen as a "wake up call".

Obesity is the leading cause of liver disease, and two in three adults in the UK are overweight or obese.

Smoking and drinking are other risk factors for the disease, which is one of the hardest cancers to treat. Five-year survival ranges from 6 to 37 per cent depending on age and gender.

The figures from Cancer Research UK show that between 2007 and 2017, the number of deaths from the disease rose from 3,200 to 5,700.

When rates were adjusted and age-standardised in line with the population, it amounts to an increase of around 50 per cent, from 5.9 deaths per 100,000 in 2005-7, to 8.9 per 100,000 in 2015-17. When records began in 1971, the rate was 2.8 per 100,000 population.

Of all cancer types, liver cancer has had the largest increase in deaths over the last decade and the most rapid rise in deaths since UK records began, experts said.

The number of cases diagnosed has also risen, by around 60 per cent in the last decade.

The disease is difficult to treat mainly because it can be hard to spot at an early stage as it often doesn’t cause symptoms until it has progressed.

Because of this, it often is not diagnosed until patients arrive at Accident & Emergency departments, with cases too advanced for surgery.

The charity said around half of all cases of liver cancer could be prevented, with lifestyle changes.

Being overweight or obese is the biggest preventable cause of the disease, with 23 per cent of cases linked to being overweight or obese. Twenty per cent of cases are linked to smoking, research shows.

Cancer Research UK’s chief executive Michelle Mitchell said: “A lot of progress has been made saving lives from cancer, but it’s worrying to see deaths from liver cancer increasing at such an alarming rate. Far too many lives are being lost, which is why we’re funding more research into this area. And aiming to understand more about the biology of the disease to develop better treatments.

“There are things we can all do to make a difference to our cancer risk and it’s never too late to make a change. Keeping a healthy weight, not smoking, and drinking less alcohol will all help lower your chance of developing liver cancer.”

The disease is more common in men than women, with the greatest risk among those over hte age of 60.

The disease is linked to cirrhosis caused by alcohol abuse as well as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, which is caused by obesity.

Speaking at the annual National Cancer Research Institute in Glasgow Dr Anya Burton, a cancer epidemiologist at Public Health England, said: "The incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in England is increasing rapidly - it has tripled in the past 20 years.

"The presence of cirrhosis, particularly advanced cirrhosis, in many patients means treatment options are severely limited.

"Our findings highlight the urgent need to address prevention strategies for both liver disease generally and hepatocellular carcinoma specifically."

Hassan Malik, a consultant hepatobiliary surgeon at the University Hospital Aintree in Liverpool, said: "The tripling of liver cancer in the past 20 years is extremely worrying and these data are a wake-up call to policy-makers and health providers that better prevention strategies are urgently needed.

"Although these new figures apply only to England, we know that alcohol, drug abuse and the resulting liver cirrhosis are even worse problems in Scotland and so HCC rates are likely to be higher.

"Prevention is always better than cure, and this is particularly the case for liver cancer, which is usually only detected in its advanced stages when it's almost impossible to cure.”