What Is Liver Cancer?<br />Liver cancer is a type of cancer that starts in the liver. Cancer starts when cells in the body begin to grow out of control. To learn more about how cancers start and spread, see What Is Cancer?<br /><br />To understand liver cancer, it helps to know about the normal structure and function of the liver.<br /><br />The liver<br />The liver is the largest internal organ. It lies under your right ribs just beneath your right lung. It has two lobes (sections).<br /><br /><br />illustration showing the right and left lobes of the liver in relation to the hepatic bile duct, pancreas, gallbladder and small intestine with a detailed view of liver lobule, hepacytes (liver cells), sinusoid, canaliculus, portal vein, hepatic artery, bile duct and central vein<br />The liver is made up mainly of cells called hepatocytes. It also has other types of cells, including cells that line its blood vessels and cells that line small tubes in the liver called bile ducts. The bile ducts carry bile from the liver to the gallbladder or directly to the intestines.<br /><br />You cannot live without your liver. It has many important functions:<br /><br />It breaks down and stores many of the nutrients absorbed from the intestine that your body needs to function. Some nutrients must be changed (metabolized) in the liver before they can be used for energy or to build and repair body tissues.<br />It makes most of the clotting factors that keep you from bleeding too much when you are cut or injured.<br />It delivers bile into the intestines to help absorb nutrients (especially fats).<br />It breaks down alcohol, drugs, and toxic wastes in the blood, which then p**** from the body through urine and stool<br />The different types of cells in the liver can form several types of malignant (cancerous) and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These tumors have different causes, are treated differently, and have a different prognosis (outlook).<br /><br />Primary liver cancer<br />A cancer that starts in the liver is called primary liver cancer. There is more than one kind of primary liver cancer.<br /><br />Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)<br />This is the most common form of liver cancer in adults.<br /><br />Hepatocellular cancers can have different growth patterns:<br /><br />Some begin as a single tumor that grows larger. Only late in the disease does it spread to other parts of the liver.<br />A second type seems to start as many small cancer nodules throughout the liver, not just a single tumor. This is seen most often in people with cirrhosis (chronic liver damage) and is the most common pattern seen in the United States.<br />Doctors can cl****ify several subtypes of HCC. Most often these subtypes do not affect treatment or prognosis (outlook). But one of these subtypes, fibrolamellar, is important to recognize. It is rare, making up less than 1% of HCCs and is most often seen in women younger than age 35. Often the rest of the liver is not diseased. This subtype tends to have a better outlook than other forms of HCC.<br /><br />Most of the rest of this content refers only to hepatocellular carcinoma and is called

https://www.cancer.org/cancer/lung-cancer/about.html<br /><br />What Is Lung Cancer?<br /><br />Lung cancer is a type of cancer that starts in the lungs. Cancer starts when cells in the body begin to grow out of control. To learn more about how cancers start and spread, see What Is Cancer?<br /><br />Normal structure and function of the lungs<br /><br />Your lungs are 2 sponge-like organs in your chest. Your right lung has 3 sections, called lobes. Your left lung has 2 lobes. The left lung is smaller because the heart takes up more room on that side of the body.<br /><br />When you breathe in, air enters through your mouth or nose and goes into your lungs through the trachea (windpipe). The trachea divides into tubes called bronchi, which enter the lungs and divide into smaller bronchi. These divide to form smaller branches called bronchioles. At the end of the bronchioles are tiny air sacs known as alveoli.<br /><br />The alveoli absorb oxygen into your blood from the inhaled air and remove carbon dioxide from the blood when you exhale. Taking in oxygen and getting rid of carbon dioxide are your lungs’ main functions.<br /><br />Lung cancers typically start in the cells lining the bronchi and parts of the lung such as the bronchioles or alveoli.<br /><br />A thin lining layer called the pleura surrounds the lungs. The pleura protects your lungs and helps them slide back and forth against the chest wall as they expand and contract during breathing.<br /><br />Below the lungs, a thin, dome-shaped muscle called the diaphragm separates the chest from the abdomen. When you breathe, the diaphragm moves up and down, forcing air in and out of the lungs.<br /><br />Types of lung cancer<br /><br />There are 2 main types of lung cancer and they are treated very differently.<br /><br />Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)<br /><br />About 80% to 85% of lung cancers are NSCLC. The main subtypes of NSCLC are adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and large cell carcinoma. These subtypes, which start from different types of lung cells are grouped together as NSCLC because their treatment and prognoses (outlook) are often similar.<br /><br />Adenocarcinoma: Adenocarcinomas start in the cells that would normally secrete substances such as mucus.<br /><br />This type of lung cancer occurs mainly in current or former smokers, but it is also the most common type of lung cancer seen in non-smokers. It is more common in women than in men, and it is more likely to occur in younger people than other types of lung cancer.<br /><br />Adenocarcinoma is usually found in the outer parts of the lung and is more likely to be found before it has spread.<br /><br />People with a type of adenocarcinoma called adenocarcinoma in situ (previously called bronchioloalveolar carcinoma) tend to have a better outlook than those with other types of lung cancer.<br /><br />Squamous cell carcinoma: Squamous cell carcinomas start in squamous cells, which are flat cells that line the inside of the airways in the lungs. They are often linked to a history of smoking and tend to be found in the central part of the lungs, near a main airway (bronchus).<br />