Stages of Liver Cancer
The Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer System (BCLC) guidelines are used by healthcare professionals to stage HCC. This approach assesses your liver’s ability to function, the size of the tumor, and your symptoms when determining whether you have HCC. Each BCLC stage may have a different name, which healthcare professionals may present as stages I to IV or 0-C or by words like early and advanced stage HCC.
The stages of hepatocellular carcinoma include:
Stage I/very early stage/stage 0: in this stage you have a single liver tumor that is less than 2 centimeters (cm) in size. You have normal bilirubin levels, according to blood testing.
Stage II, early stage, or stage A: If you have more than one tumor that is less than 3 cm in diameter or a single tumor that is 5 cm or less in size. Your blood vessels may have become infected by the tumor.
Stage III (also known as the intermediate stage or stage B): At this stage, you may have many tumors or tumors that are larger than 5 cm. Your lymph nodes, major blood vessels, or another organ could have been affected by the tumor’s spread.
Stage IV, also known as an advanced stage or stage C: this stage signifies that the cancer has spread to other parts of your body, such as your lungs or bones.