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Home›Cancer›Liver Cancer Survival Rate: Figures by Spread and How to Improve Your Odds
Key Takeaways

Liver cancer survival figures are based on people diagnosed between 2011 and 2017. Remember that survival rates are approximate and based on the past outcomes of others — they cannot tell you what will happen in your individual case. One reason for the low survival is that many people with liver cancer also have comorbidities such as liver cirrhosis.

Survival by extent of spread

Liver cancer survival rate by metastasis spread

If liver cancer has no metastases, five-year survival is 28%. If there are metastases in the liver and to nearby organs, five-year survival is 7%. When liver cancer has spread to more distant organs or tissues, survival is lower still. Survival also depends heavily on the treatment applied: for liver cancer that can be surgically removed (resected), the five-year prognosis improves by more than 50%, especially when the disease is found at the earliest stages.

Metastases

The presence and location of metastases is one of the strongest factors in prognosis. Liver cancer that remains localised is far more treatable than disease that has spread to nearby or distant organs, which is why early detection makes such a difference to survival.

What can I do in the fight against liver cancer?

Alcohol is toxic to liver cells, so its use can accelerate liver damage with potentially fatal consequences — alcohol will need to be given up.2 Quitting smoking directly lengthens survival time.3 Survival may also depend on sweetness: fructose (fruit, juices, sweets) is toxic to the liver,45 so vitamins and minerals should come from vegetables, fish and eggs.

Mushrooms have been used as medicine for thousands of years for their unmatched pharmacological diversity. Lentinan, from the Lentinus edodes medicinal mushroom, is the most thoroughly studied and documented anticancer compound. One study7 found that lentinan suppresses liver cancer and even has "a significant synergistic anticancer effect" when used together with chemotherapy. Only water-based polysaccharide extracts are used — ethanol (alcohol)-based extracts are cheaper and faster but do not extract the compounds we need. The liver plays a central role in detoxification and immunity, so a concentrated multi-extract mushroom-polysaccharide formula is studied for supporting the immune system and improving quality of life during treatment.

Related supplement

A study found lentinan has a significant synergistic anticancer effect with chemotherapy in liver cancer. Only water-based extracts deliver the active polysaccharides.

Lentinan AXT by Zenius Labs™ →
What is the survival rate for liver cancer?

If liver cancer has no metastases, five-year survival is about 28%. With metastases to the liver and nearby organs it falls to about 7%, and lower still once it spreads to distant organs. For cancers that can be surgically resected, the five-year prognosis improves by more than 50%.

Why is liver cancer survival relatively low?

One reason is that many people with liver cancer also have comorbidities such as liver cirrhosis. Survival also depends heavily on stage at diagnosis and whether the tumour can be surgically removed.

What lifestyle changes help with liver cancer?

Alcohol is toxic to liver cells and must be given up; quitting smoking lengthens survival; and fructose (fruit juices, sweets) is toxic to the liver, so vitamins and minerals should come from vegetables, fish and eggs.

Can mushroom polysaccharides help in liver cancer?

A study found lentinan suppresses liver cancer and has a significant synergistic anticancer effect alongside chemotherapy. Only water-based extracts deliver the active polysaccharides. A concentrated formula such as Lentinan AXT by Zenius Labs™ is studied for immune support during treatment.

References
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Zenius Labs™

Lentinan AXT - water-based, concentrated polysaccharides

Lentinan AXT by Zenius Labs™ combines Lentinus edodes and Coriolus versicolor polysaccharides with astaxanthin - a concentrated, water-based formula studied for supporting the immune system during liver cancer treatment.

Get Lentinan AXT