What are the key statistics about liver cancer?

The American Cancer Society’s most recent estimates for primary liver cancer and intrahepatic bile duct cancer in the United States are for 2012:

• About 28,720 new cases (21,370 in men and 7,350 in women) will be diagnosed
• About 20,550 people (13,980 men and 6,570 women) will die of these cancers

The percentage of Americans developing liver cancer has been rising slowly for several decades.

Liver cancer is more common in men than in women, although it is still fairly rare in the US in both groups. An average man's lifetime risk of getting liver or intrahepatic bile duct cancer is about 1 in 94, while an average woman's risk is about 1 in 212. Most cases occur in people with certain risk factors (see the section, "What are the risk factors for liver cancer?").

The average age at diagnosis of liver cancer is 63. More than 90% of people diagnosed with liver cancer are older than 45 years of age. About 3% are between 35 and 44 years of age and less than 3% are younger than 35.

This cancer is many times more common in countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia than in the US. In many of these countries it is the most common type of cancer. More than 700,000 people are diagnosed with this cancer each year throughout the world. Liver cancer is also a leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide, accounting for more than 600,000 deaths each year.