Liver cancer to double worldwide, most of it preventable: study

An illustration of a diseased liver. [File, Standard]

The number of people with liver cancer will nearly double worldwide by 2050 unless more is done to address preventable causes such as obesity, alcohol consumption and hepatitis, a study warned Tuesday.

New cases of liver cancer -- the sixth most common form of the disease -- will rise to 1.52 million a year from 870,000 if current trends continue, according to data from the Global Cancer Observatory published in the Lancet medical journal.