If the tumours are small, secondary liver cancer may have no symptoms. As the cancer grows or spreads, a range of symptoms may occur.
These may include:
- weakness and tiredness (fatigue)
- pain in the upper right side of the abdomen or right shoulder blade
- severe pain in the abdomen
- appetite loss and feeling sick (nausea)
- unexplained weight loss
- yellowing of the skin and eyes (jaundice)
- dark urine (wee) and pale faeces (poo)
- itchy skin
- a swollen abdomen (ascites)
- fever.
→ READ MORE: Secondary liver cancer diagnosis
Key resource
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More resources
Prof Desmond Yip, Senior Staff Specialist, Department of Medical Oncology, The Canberra Hospital, ACT (clinical update); A/Prof Siddhartha Baxi, Radiation Oncologist and Medical Director, GenesisCare, Gold Coast, QLD; Prof Katherine Clark, Clinical Director of Palliative Care, NSLHD Supportive and Palliative Care Network, Northern Sydney Cancer Centre, Royal North Shore Hospital, NSW; Anne Dowling, Hepatoma Clinical Nurse Consultant and Liver Transplant Coordinator, Austin Health, VIC; A/Prof Koroush Haghighi, Liver, Pancreas and Upper Gastrointestinal Surgeon, Prince of Wales and St Vincent’s Hospitals, NSW; Karen Hall, 13 11 20 Consultant, Cancer Council SA; Dr Brett Knowles, Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary and General Surgeon, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and St Vincent’s Hospital, VIC; Lina Sharma, Consumer; A/Prof Simone Strasser, Head of Department and Hepatologist, AW Morrow Gastroenterology and Liver Centre, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and The University of Sydney, NSW; David Thomas, Consumer.
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