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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that liver cancer deaths climbed an astonishing 43 percent from 2000 to 2016 in the United States, while overall cancer deaths declined during this same period. According to the CDC, the 10-year survival rate for liver cancer remains largely unchanged, but significantly greater numbers of people are developing the disease.

More than 70 percent of liver cancers are caused by underlying liver disease. Risk factors include obesity, smoking, excess alcohol consumption, and hepatitis B and hepatitis C infection. Higher rates of obesity and hepatitis C may be behind the surge in liver cancer cases.

People who received a blood transfusion or organ transplant before 1992, prior to routine hepatitis C screening, and those who abuse opioids are at increased risk for the liver disease. If left untreated, hepatitis C often leads to liver cancer over time. According to the CDC report, liver cancer mortality rates from 2000 to 2016 were highest in older adults and were more than twice as high in men as in women.