Prevention

How can I help prevent liver cancer?

You can lower your risk of developing liver cancer by reducing your exposure to certain risk factors -- excessive drinking of alcohol, hepatitis and anabolic steroids. Excessive drinking of alcohol is the most common cause of cirrhosis of the liver, which often leads to liver cancer.

Quitting smoking may also slightly lower the risk of liver cancer.

A vaccination is now available to protect against hepatitis B (HBV). Being vaccinated and having your children vaccinated at the appropriate age will help prevent HBV infection. Check with your child's pediatrician for details.

There is no vaccine for hepatitis C (HCV). Therefore, preventing HCV infection and HBV infection in people who have not been immunized is based on understanding the ways these viruses spread.

HCV and HBV are spread through blood transfusions, by contaminated needles of intravenous drug abusers and by unprotected sexual intercourse. Also, mothers who are hepatitis virus carriers can pass the virus to their children at birth or in early infancy.

Studies suggest that treatment with interferon for hepatic C may help prevent liver cancer.

Changing the way certain grains are stored in tropical and subtropical climates could reduce exposure to cancer-causing substances such as aflatoxins. Regulations are in place to prevent and monitor grain contamination.

Regulations are also in place to protect consumers and workers from known carcinogens (cancer-causing chemicals). These regulations have essentially eliminated certain chemicals as a cause of liver cancer. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently lowered the allowable level of arsenic in drinking water in the United States, which should help to reduce exposure.

More on Liver Cancer

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This article was reviewed and updated June 2007.