Obesity and Liver Cancer - Is There a Link?

Liver cancer can be of different types. They arebecause of any complication arising from hepatitis.
hemangiomas, hepatic adenomas and focal nodularAlthough it has been seen that in many cases in
hyperplasia. Hepatic adenoma is also known asAfrica and Asia, the cancer results in people who
primary liver cancer. They generally occur in the righthave no history of alcohol abuse.
hepatic lobe of the liver and are not very common inThere is a belief that there is possibly a link between
occurrence. This type of cancer is generally seen inobesity and liver cancer. Researchers from John
populations of Asia and Africa. It is not common inHopkins Medical School, the University of California,
western countries.Los Angeles, believe that obesity is an even bigger
When it happens in developed countries, it generallycausal factor for liver cancer than for cirrhosis. When
occurs in middle age and elderly people. It is alsothe patients were observed, more than half of them
found to be twice occurring in men than in women.had a higher BMI or Body Mass Index than what was
Most of the patients with this type of cancer are thenormal. This happens more in elderly people, as with
ones who have liver cirrhosis. This disease happensage the weight increases and the liver becomes
because of chronic alcoholism which results in nodalmore susceptible to being weak and losing its
regeneration of hepatocytes.compensation ability.
There may be other forms of cancer which happen