Liver Cancer Triples

Obesity and drinking have triggered a tripling of liver cancer cases in the last 30 years, so recent research figures show.
There were 865 cases of liver cancer in the UK in 1975. This went up to 3,000 plus in 2006, the most recent period for which figures are available.
Poor diet, alcohol consumption and drug use are viewed as the key factors behind the increase.
Welsh experts state that this increase in drinking levels are especially linked to the increase in liver cancers that are more frequent in 60 plus men.
What is of great concern is that the age of those suffering from the effects of alcohol abuse is declining, with more young people in their mid-20s looking for assistance with drink-related problems.
Matt Seymour of Cancer Research UK stated that: “The three main risk factors for liver cirrhosis – alcohol, obesity and hepatitis C infection – are getting more common in the UK. We are seeing more patients with cirrhosis and, in turn, more with primary liver cancer and this is likely to continue well into the future.
“There is a long delay between exposure to the risk factors and the onset of cancer. and it might take between 20 and 40 years for liver cancer to develop after infection with hepatitis C so even if new cases of infection stopped, the number of cases of cancer would continue to rise for some years.”
There are now more people in their 20s seriously addicted to alcohol having withdrawal problems. There is normally a time lag of 10 years prior to them becoming aware of the severe damage they are doing to their liver.