The stages of primary liver cancer

This page tells you about the number stages of primary liver cancer. There is information about

A quick guide to what's on this page
What staging is
Number stages of liver cancer
Stage 1
Stage 2
Stage 3
Stage 4

The stages of primary liver cancer

The stage of a cancer tells the doctor how far it has grown. It is important because decisions about treatment are often made according to the stage of a cancer. There are different ways of staging cancers. The numbered staging system for primary liver cancer has 4 main stages.

Stage 1 means your cancer is a single tumour. There are no cancer cells in the blood vessels, lymph nodes or in any other part of the body.
Stage 2 means a single tumour may have grown into blood vessels or there may be several small tumours (less than 5cm) in the liver. But the cancer has not spread to your lymph nodes or any other part of your body.
Stage 3 is divided into 3 further groups – stage 3A, 3B and 3C. Stage 3A means that the tumours are a bit bigger (more than 5cm) but have not spread into the lymph nodes or blood vessels. Stage 3B means that the one or more tumours have spread into blood vessels close to the liver, but not to any other part of your body. Stage 3C means that the cancer has spread to the area around the liver but not to any other part of the body.
Stage 4 is divided into 2 further groups – stage 4A and stage 4B. Stage 4A means the cancer has spread to lymph nodes that are further away from the liver. Stage 4B means that the cancer has spread to other organs in the body.

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The stage of a cancer tells the doctor how far it has grown. It is important because decisions about treatment are often made according to the stage of the cancer. The tests and scans you have to diagnose your cancer will give some information about the stage. Staging shows whether the cancer is contained within the liver or whether it has spread elsewhere.

There are different ways of staging cancers. There is information about the TNM and Child-Pugh stages of liver cancer on the next page and more about staging generally in the about cancer section of CancerHelp UK.

This page describes the 4 number stages of liver cancer. The stage of cancer depends on

The size of the tumour
Whether the cancer has grown into or around major blood vessels – this is important because it is easier for cancer cells to get into the bloodstream and spread if the tumour is closely involved with the blood vessels
Whether cancer has spread to lymph nodes or other organs in the body

There is a single tumour and the cancer has not spread to the blood vessels, lymph nodes or any other part of the body.

At this stage the cancer has not spread to the lymph nodes or any other part of the body. It can be either

A single tumour that has grown into the blood vessels around the liver
Several tumours that are less than 5cm but have not grown into the blood vessels around the liver

This stage is divided into 3 further groups – stage 3A, 3B and 3C.

Stage 3A
There is more than one tumour, and at least 1 of them is 5cm or larger. At this stage the cancer has not spread to the lymph nodes or any other part of the body.

Stage 3B
There is 1 or more tumour and the cancer may have grown into the blood vessels close to the liver. At this stage, cancer cells have not spread into the lymph nodes or to any other part of your body.

Stage 3C
The cancer has spread to organs close to the liver. It has not spread to lymph nodes or to any other part of the body.

This stage is divided into 2 further stages: stage 4A and 4b.

Stage 4A
The cancer is any size and there may be more than one tumour. It may have grown into blood vessels or the organs around the liver. It has spread to lymph nodes but not to other parts of the body.

Stage 4B
The cancer is any size and there may be more than one tumour. It may have grown into blood vessels or the organs around the liver. It may or may not have spread into lymph nodes, but has spread to another part of the body (metastasised).